The “prices set to escalate” claim in this story is a forecast made in 2016, not a current cobalt price outlook. PerthNow reported that CRU expected global refined cobalt demand to exceed 100,000 tonnes in 2017 and possibly 150,000 tonnes by 2025. Those forecast dates have passed, and the sources available here do not establish whether the projections were met or what cobalt prices are doing now.
What the 2016 story forecast
PerthNow published its report on 6 October 2016, describing growing interest in cobalt alongside expectations for lithium-ion batteries and electric cars. It reported CRU forecasts for global refined cobalt demand to exceed 100,000 tonnes in 2017 and possibly exceed 150,000 tonnes by 2025. These were projections made in 2016, not verified demand outcomes. PerthNow’s 2016 report
The article also framed cobalt supply as concentrated and often produced as a by-product of nickel or copper mining. It named Murrin Murrin and Ravensthorpe in Western Australia as producers or projects at the time. That is historical context, not a confirmed list of current WA operations.
What Australian production and resources show for 2024
Geoscience Australia’s 2025 assessment reports 1,697 kilotonnes of cobalt in Australian economic demonstrated resources, with resource data dated 31 December 2024. It reports 4.8 kilotonnes of cobalt mined in Australia during calendar year 2024. Resources are an estimate of material classified as economically demonstrated; production is the amount mined in a particular period, so the much larger resource figure is not annual output. Geoscience Australia: Cobalt
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In the same assessment, Australia’s cobalt production declined 9% year over year, from 5.3 kilotonnes in 2023 to 4.8 kilotonnes in 2024. World production rose 22% over that period. Geoscience Australia also counted five operating Australian cobalt mines in 2024. These figures describe 2024, not a live 2026 production snapshot. Geoscience Australia: Australian Identified Mineral Resources 2025, Cobalt
Cobalt demand is broader than electric-car batteries
Lithium-ion battery electrodes and electric vehicles are prominent uses, but they are not the whole market. Geoscience Australia also lists superalloys, pigments, catalysts and magnets among cobalt’s applications. A battery-focused headline can therefore capture one important demand story without describing every source of industrial demand. Geoscience Australia: Cobalt
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the headline does—and does not—say about price
The 2016 article’s title predicted that cobalt prices would escalate over the following four years. That forecast is now historical: the sources cited here do not verify the subsequent price path, provide a current cobalt price, or establish a present-day price forecast. The 2024 production figures and resource estimates cannot be used on their own to infer today’s price direction.
For a personal-finance reader, the key distinction is between a dated commodity-market prediction and a current, evidence-backed outlook. This article provides no basis for treating cobalt as an investment recommendation or for making a financial decision based on the old price claim.
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