Indonesia has become the second largest cobalt producer in 2022 below the Democratic Republic of Congo which has 5% of global cobalt production, also surpassing Australia and the Philippines.
Cobalt is the most important raw material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, and is produced in various countries around the world, including Indonesia.
In Indonesia, cobalt itself is used for the raw material chain for electric vehicle lithium batteries such as nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate. For the next few years, automotive industries are moving towards zero emission and the need for cobalt will certainly increases.
Production increase, prices fall
The Cobalt Institute explained that Indonesia’s cobalt production increased by 9,500 tons in 2022 from 2,700 tons in 2021. It is predicted that there is a potential for an increase in cobalt production 10 times in 2030. The Indonesian government identified a total cobalt reserve of 231,768 tons.
Meanwhile, Australia produces 7,000 tons of cobalt in 2022 and 5,900 tons in 2021. The Philippines produced at least 5,400 tons in 2022. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo produced 145,000 tons of cobalt or 73% globally.
Presently, total global cobalt production currently reaches 198,000 tons with global demand reaching 187,000 tons, which is equal to 13% increase in 2022.
Cobalt production growth is increasing along with the need for electronics and the production of electric vehicles which require 74,000 tons or 40% of total global demand last year compared to 56,000 tons or 34% in 2021.
However, the price of cobalt has fallen since March 2022 from US$ 81,860 metric tons (MT) to US$ 34,582 per MT in March 2023 and fell back to US$ 33,981.75 in May 2023. The main cause of the drop is the fact that Cobalt has lost its share to lithium as recently the Chinese EV market pivots towards non-cobalt battery.
