Cobalt prices were surging so much last year that thieves were carrying out elaborate heists at warehouses in Europe’s busiest port. Now, prices are in free fall and mining companies are taking the financial hit.
The story of what happened is the classic boom-bust in commodities. In the case of cobalt, it was Elon Musk’s vision of electric cars gaining mass appeal and an ensuing rush of money to bet that the world will need a lot more cobalt, a critical component of lithium-ion batteries.