Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasia Resources Group, recently forecast the metal market in 2022 and said high prices of aluminum and cobalt are expected to continue this year. Aluminium is expected to hit a 30-year high; Cobalt prices continue to rise as tight supplies are expected to continue.
He also said aluminium had strong potential to outperform other LME base metals this year, with prices again passing an important milestone of 3,000 a tonne at the start of the year. The global aluminium market has been short of supply for two consecutive years. China's aluminum supply growth will be affected to some extent by the country's strict energy consumption controls and the slow opening of spare capacity at home. In addition, efforts to accelerate decarbonization around the world and soaring energy prices have limited capacity additions outside China, in fact leading to further reductions in European smelting capacity. At the same time, aluminium demand is benefiting from strong infrastructure investment in China, with a focus on renewable energy, rising electric vehicle production and recycled aluminium packaging set to outpace global supply growth. As a result, aluminium prices hit a 30-year high.
As the world shifts toward a green future, the electric vehicle sector has seen strong demand growth, with sales doubling and continuing to climb, driven by government policies, and the penetration rate of the electric vehicle market is expected to exceed 50 percent by 2030. Cobalt demand growth is not just dependent on the electric vehicle industry. Cobalt-containing batteries are also booming in end-use systems such as mobile electronics and battery storage. Even traditional-use sectors, which account for about a quarter of total consumption, look set for a boom this year, helped by the revival of the aerospace sector.
Due to the Congo (gold) the government to the cobalt supply take stronger controls, consumers increasingly strict of cobalt review of supply chain and "passport" and Re | new tracking the implementation of the solution, such as the Source has reduced the manual cobalt impact on prices. In addition, global cobalt supply tightness is expected to continue in 2022 due to the impact of logistics efficiency on the flow of cobalt feedstock, with prices still on an upward trajectory.
