http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/11/cncobalt111.xml
Cobalt price soars as stockpiles run low
By Iain Dey
Last Updated: 1:37am GMT 11/01/2008
The slew of gadgets and gizmos unveiled at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas could soon become much more expensive to run than anyone had previously imagined.
Cobalt, the key mineral used to make electric batteries, has soars to a new record high.
Strong demand and scarce supply pushed prices in Europe to $46 a pound.
BHP Billiton, the London-listed mining giant, was only willing to sell stock at $47.50 by the close of trade, according to traders.
The price has soared by about $5 in the past week and is 70 per cent above the levels seen a year ago.
With stockpiles being run down, the price looks set to climb further.
"There's no metal around, producers are sold out," said one European trader.
Cobalt is a key component in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, one of the most common types of rechargeable battery used in consumer electronics.
Radioactive versions of cobalt are used in the treatment of cancer as a tracer that can monitor drugs passing through the body.
It is widely used in the defence industry. The US Defense Logistics Agency has historically kept a large stockpile of the mineral to help secure the US military's needs.
One London-based trader said the DLA held about 52m pounds of cobalt in 1993, but this has been whittled down to little more than 1.5m pounds. "The average rate of annual sales in those 14 years has been 1,650 tonnes per annum," the trader said.
"At this rate of sales the DLA will have exhausted its cobalt stocks by June of this year."
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