Market Pulse Scope's North American cobalt metal marker fell 9.0% over seven sessions to $35,705 a tonne on Oct 19, as hopes of a further tightening in Congolese export quotas went unmet and Chinese electrolytic cobalt, cobalt sulphate and cobalt chloride all posted weekly losses.
Vale says rising fuel and shipping costs have pushed about 10% of its iron ore output below breakeven just as Chinese port inventories climbed to 173.69 million tonnes and daily hot metal eased to 2.3366 million tonnes.
Market Pulse Scope's China coke benchmark fell 8.3% to CNY 2,125 a tonne after steelmakers pushed through a second round of procurement cuts effective 12 October, leaving independent coking plants about CNY 52 a tonne in the red.