The development of my country’s cobalt hydroxide industry faces challenges. The future market will show a tight balance between supply and demand.

Cobalt hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Co(OH)2. It appears as a light cyan or rose-colored powder. It is insoluble in water and soluble in acid and ammonium salt solutions. Cobalt hydroxide has two crystal phases, namely α-Co(OH)2 with a hydrotalcite-like structure and β-Co(OH)2 with a brucite structure. Cobalt hydroxide is an important type of cobalt compound. It is mainly used in the production of cobalt salts, catalysts, electronic materials, and lithium battery cathode materials, and has a wide range of applications.

There are various production methods for cobalt hydroxide, the main ones are synthesis method, which refers to the method of using cobalt salt and sodium hydroxide as raw materials, and generates cobalt hydroxide through chemical reaction; precipitation conversion method, which refers to using cobalt salt and ammonia water as raw materials, through chemical reaction. The reaction generates cobalt hydroxide precipitate, and then goes through filtration, washing, drying and other steps to prepare cobalt hydroxide; the thermal hydrolysis method refers to using cobalt salt as raw material, adding it to hot water for hydrolysis reaction to generate cobalt hydroxide Methods.

Cobalt salt is a key raw material for the production of cobalt hydroxide. In 2022, domestic production of refined cobalt (including cobalt powder, cobalt salt, electrolytic cobalt, etc.) has exceeded 140,000 tons. Although domestic cobalt salt production is high, cobalt ore production is low. Global cobalt ores are concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and my country’s market demand still relies on imports. The high dependence on the import of upstream raw materials is not conducive to the development of the domestic cobalt hydroxide industry.

According to the “Cobalt Hydroxide Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospects Forecast Analysis Report 2023-2028” released by the Industrial Research Center, Cobalt hydroxide has a wide range of applications, among which lithium batteries are the main application scenario of cobalt hydroxide. Battery-grade cobalt hydroxide is an important cathode material required for lithium electronics and nickel-metal hydride batteries. In recent years, with the rapid development of terminal automobiles, electronics and other fields, its market demand has continued to increase, and the industry has shown good development prospects. Overall, my country is currently highly dependent on imports of cobalt hydroxide raw materials and has a large market demand. In the next five years, the market will show a tight balance between supply and demand.

my country’s cobalt hydroxide production companies mainly include Zhejiang Yilitai Cobalt Nickel Materials, Jiangmen Fangyuan Metal Materials, Jiangxi Tianqi Jintaige Cobalt Industry, Deqing Pusen Metallurgical Powder, Qinghai Zhongli Technology, Lenghu Jinzang Film New Materials, Dalian Aote Cobalt Nickel New Materials, China Railway Resources Group, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Industry, etc. At present, domestically produced cobalt hydroxide is mainly industrial-grade cobalt hydroxide, and the production capacity of battery-grade cobalt hydroxide is still relatively low. In the future, local companies will need to continue to improve their technical level.

Industry analysts said that cobalt hydroxide can be used as a cathode material for the production of lithium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries scene, the market space is vast. However, from a production perspective, my country’s dependence on the import of cobalt ore, the raw material for cobalt hydroxide, is still relatively high. In the future, the market will have a tight balance between supply and demand, and industry development will face challenges. At present, most companies in our country have entered the cobalt hydroxide market, but domestic products are still mainly low-end industrial-grade cobalt hydroxide. In the future, the technological level of companies needs to be continuously improved.