At the beginning of this year, the most talked about thing in the construction and ceramics industry was the "price increase of various metal materials." Among them, the skyrocketing price of cobalt products has once again refreshed the industry's understanding of cobalt oxide. "If I had known it would rise so much, I might as well have stocked up more than before. This is much more profitable than direct processing and production." Many people in the industry teased.
As one of the raw materials for ceramic colors, the price of cobalt oxide has soared since the beginning of the year. As of mid-March, the price has risen from 200,000 yuan per ton at the end of last year to about 380,000 yuan. In just one holiday, the price of cobalt oxide has almost doubled, with an increase of up to 90%. What many people thought was impossible a few years ago has been changed by cobalt oxide.
Cobalt oxide rose to 380,000 yuan/ton
The increase reached 90% compared with the end of last year
In the past two years, the price of cobalt oxide has been relatively stable, resulting in many manufacturers not having much inventory at the end of the year, and some even having no inventory at all. According to the practice of previous years, at the end of each year, the prices of many raw materials are relatively low. Even if the prices increase slightly after the holidays, the magnitude is not large, and it does not take long for them to return to their original prices.
In addition, cobalt oxide prices experienced a surge as early as the end of last year, rising from 150,000 to 160,000 yuan per ton to 200,000 yuan. In the eyes of many manufacturers, cobalt oxide prices have experienced a round of rising prices and are almost there. At a high level, stocking up at the end of the year is of little significance. Therefore, many manufacturers predict that they will be able to stock up after the holiday, and the product prices will not differ much.
"Unexpectedly, the price changed every day after the holiday. At most, it even rose by 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a day, and soared to about 380,000 yuan per ton in a few days. In recent days, the price of cobalt oxide has remained at 35 per ton. -380,000 yuan, it’s hard to say whether it will continue to rise,” an industry insider in Zibo told “Ceramic Information” on condition of anonymity.
Compared with a year ago, the current increase in cobalt oxide per ton is close to 90%. For manufacturers that had no inventory a year ago, in the face of rising cobalt oxide, they can only "buy as they go, use as they go", but even so, production costs are still being pushed up. Compared with the end of last year, for some products with large amounts of cobalt oxide, the increase in cobalt oxide prices alone has led to a 50% increase in production costs.
Manufacturers that prepared inventory at the end of last year have invisibly reaped considerable rewards. It is understood that a local pigment company in Zibo "accidentally" stockpiled 30 tons of cobalt oxide before the year. This alone will increase the value of at least millions of yuan after the holiday.
“While other manufacturers’ production costs are being pushed up, our company’s cost advantage is highlighted.However, based on the principle of mutually beneficial cooperation, the price quoted to our cooperative customers is also far lower than the market price. For example, when the market price rises to 270 yuan per kilogram, we will supply the goods to customers at 240 yuan and make every effort to ensure that every customer has a stable supply of raw materials. In this way, the viscosity between us and our customers has been further enhanced." A person in charge of a color company in Zibo who did not want to be named said frankly.
In fact, for ceramics manufacturers, the skyrocketing price of cobalt oxide has been felt most deeply by glazed tile manufacturers. It is understood that glazed tiles are the products that use the most pigments in the current building ceramics industry. Therefore, the increase in the price of cobalt oxide will have a certain impact on its production costs. In addition, the rising cost of cobalt oxide will also push up the production costs of some antique bricks, black gold flowers and other products.
Rapid development of new energy industry
Expand the market demand for cobalt oxide
It is understood that domestic cobalt ore raw materials are currently mainly imported from Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the main producer of cobalt ore. In recent years, my country's cobalt-based products have become more and more widely used in the new energy industry, especially new energy battery manufacturers, which have an increasing demand for them.
For example, a new energy battery factory can consume 300-400 tons of cobalt oxide in a month. With the country's strong support for the new energy industry, the market demand for cobalt oxide has further increased.
Therefore, according to the heads of many ceramic color companies in Zibo, compared with the new energy industry, the demand for cobalt oxide in building ceramic products can be described as the "tip of the iceberg." The current price of cobalt oxide is skyrocketing. On the one hand, the rapid development of the new energy industry has driven a surge in market demand for cobalt oxide. On the other hand, it is not ruled out that some manufacturers are hyping up the price of cobalt oxide.
“In the past few years, some people have tasted the sweetness of speculation. In fact, the use of cobalt oxide in the ceramic industry only accounts for a small part of cobalt oxide production. Even if the demand increases, it will not cause a significant increase in the price of cobalt oxide.” An industry insider in Zibo said so.
It is understood that the rise in cobalt oxide prices has not had much impact on ceramic companies at the moment. "In fact, even for higher-priced pigments, the cost will not increase much if it is spread evenly on each tile. Therefore, in recent years, there have been basically no cases of rising tile prices due to rising pigment prices." The above-mentioned industry insiders in Zibo said.
In his opinion, the increase in color material prices will have a greater impact on Siwa manufacturers. In addition, cobalt oxide is also the main raw material for the production of some inks. Therefore, the price of cobalt-based inks will also "rise", especially cobalt blue and cobalt black inks.
Cobalt oxide price hits record high
It once rose to more than 600,000 yuan/ton
According to "Ceramic Information", it is not the first time in recent years that the price of cobalt oxide has skyrocketed. In 2018, cobalt oxide also staged a wave of rising prices. At that time, cobalt oxide reached a peak of more than 600,000 yuan per ton, so it was called "Grandma Cobalt" by the industry. Since then, the price of cobalt oxide has been declining. By the first half of 2020, the lowest price of cobalt oxide was more than 140,000 yuan per ton. However, at the end of January 2021, the price of cobalt oxide quickly rose to 200,000 yuan.
At present, as more and more manufacturers have exhausted their inventories, purchasing raw materials has become an unavoidable fact. But at present, most manufacturers dare not purchase products rashly, but instead "buy as much as you use."
The person in charge of Zibo Yixi Materials Company told Ceramic Information that in the past, in order to reduce procurement costs, his company usually purchased 2 months' worth of supplies at one time as inventory. But now, the price of cobalt oxide is at a high level in recent years, and his company can only purchase half a month's worth of it at a time to reduce cost risks.
“The risk is too great, so we can only take it step by step.” The person in charge of the above-mentioned color company said frankly. In the view of more industry insiders, the current construction and ceramics industry is still in the stage of large-scale construction. It is difficult to judge the next price trend of cobalt oxide, and they can only wait and see.
(The article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
