Cobalt Metal DNA™
· Atomic #27 · ₹3,411.38/kg today
A battery metal whose price chart has become a proxy for how nervous the EV industry is about where its supply actually comes from.
Cobalt DNA Profile
Each dimension below is either computed live from data this site already tracks, or a manually researched figure with its own source — see how these are calculated.
How is this calculated?
Computed from the 30-day price change already stored in this site's own price history: score = 50 + (30-day % change × 2), clamped to 0–100. A metal flat over 30 days scores 50; every 1% of 30-day move shifts the score 2 points either way.
How is this calculated?
The standard deviation of daily % price changes over the last 10 trading days, scaled ×20 and clamped to 0–100. A purely descriptive measure of recent swing size, not a positive or negative signal on its own.
How is this calculated?
The single largest producing country's share of reported global production (excluding the "Other countries" residual bucket), taken directly from the USGS-sourced figures already powering /metal-reserves. Higher = more concentrated in one country.
How is this calculated?
Summed reported reserves ÷ summed reported annual production, across only the countries USGS reports both figures for (same commodity, same units — never summed across commodities). Scaled: 40+ years of reserve life scores 100, scaled down linearly below that.
How is this calculated?
Manually researched from each metal's primary industry association (see each metal's Sources section) — not computed. Scored as 100 minus the largest single demand sector's share of total demand, so a metal with no single dominant buyer group scores higher than one dependent on one sector.
Source: Cobalt Institute, Cobalt Market Report 2024 — view
Scientific Identity
- Symbol
- Co
- Atomic Number
- 27
- Category
- Battery & Energy Metals
Source: IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements. Further physical/chemical properties (density, melting point, electron configuration) are planned for a future update — not shown until individually verified per metal.
Mined Almost Entirely Outside This Site's Tracked Countries
The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies the large majority of the world's mined cobalt — none of this site's 22 tracked countries come close to that scale, though Australia and Canada both produce modest volumes, often as a byproduct of nickel mining.
Refining Is a Different Map Than Mining
Even without mining much cobalt itself, China dominates the refining step that turns raw cobalt into the battery-grade material EV and electronics makers actually need — a processing chokepoint that matters just as much as who controls the mines.
The Ethics of Where It Comes From
A meaningful share of DRC cobalt has historically come from informal, artisanal small-scale mining rather than industrial operations, raising documented labour and safety concerns that have pushed battery makers and regulators toward mandatory supply-chain due diligence and traceability requirements — a genuine ESG pressure that increasingly shapes which mines global buyers are willing to source from, not just how much cobalt costs.
Supply Snapshot
Real, USGS-sourced production shares — the same data behind this metal's Geographic Concentration score above. Full breakdown: Metal Reserves →
Demand Mix
Sourced from Cobalt Institute, Cobalt Market Report 2024 (2024 data) — view source.
Did You Know?
Concerns over artisanal, small-scale mining conditions in cobalt's dominant supply region have pushed battery makers toward traceability requirements and, in some cases, cobalt-reduced battery chemistries entirely — a real supply-chain story shaping the metal's own demand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cobalt Metal DNA™ is MetalsCost's intelligence profile combining scientific identity with market, supply and demand indicators — each indicator is either computed from this site's own stored price and reserves data, or a manually researched, cited figure. See the methodology page for exactly how.
Cobalt's overall score of 47/100 is a simple average of the individual dimensions currently scored for it below — click any dimension's "Why?" for its exact formula and source.
Congo (Kinshasa) accounts for 74.2% of global cobalt production, per USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries — see the full production breakdown.
The Cobalt price in India today is ₹3,411.38 per kilogram as of October 16, 2026. See the live price and chart.
MetalsCost Metal DNA™ is an informational and analytical indicator. It is not investment advice, a price target, or a recommendation to buy or sell any commodity or financial instrument. See the methodology page for data sources and calculation details.
