Rising protectionism poses a real threat to cobalt

Profit-taking and deteriorating investor sentiment were the main drivers of the recent fall in the price of cobalt. As such, for now, we are sticking with our end-year forecast of $100,000 per tonne. However, if the US were to impose tariffs on auto imports, this could derail the nascent electric vehicle sector, with negative implications for cobalt demand and prices.

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