J ust a year ago a global crunch in one metal looked likely to single-handedly derail the energy transition. Not only was cobalt, a crucial battery material, being dug up far too slowly to meet soaring demand, but the lion’s share of known reserves sat in Congo, a country rife with instability, corruption and child labour. Fast forward to today and the price of the blue metal, which had more than doubled between summer 2021 and spring 2022, to $82,000 a tonne, has collapsed to $35,000, not far from historic lows.
一年前，一种金属的全球紧缩似乎很可能会单枪匹马脱轨。钴不仅是一种关键的电池材料，被挖得太慢而无法满足需求，而且狮子在刚果中占据了已知储量的份额，这是一个充满不稳定，腐败和童工的国家。快进到今天，蓝色金属的价格在2021年夏季至2022年春季之间翻了一番，达到每吨82,000美元，已经跌至35,000美元，距离历史悠久的低点不远。
