Deployment of cathode material cobalt increased 85%, while nickel use was up by 77% compared to the same month in 2019. Nickel use in battery technologies has climbed steadily and now constitutes nearly half the value of the index, while cobalt has gone from 45% when its price was peaking to 25% despite the rise in price. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence price assessments showed month on month increases in prices of all four commodities making up the index, with cobalt up 37% over the course of last year. The Benchmark cobalt index price jumped above $40,000 a tonne in November for the first time in two years and continued to climb into the new year. That lifted the cobalt sub-index to a monthly record of $133 million, despite the fact that prices are still 60% below levels seen early 2018. QUOTE Strong growth ahead leading into 2022
