TOKYO -- Prices of cobalt roughly doubled in 2017 as automakers scrambled to secure the silvery element, which is used in batteries that power emission-free vehicles. The global shortage is hitting Japanese traders of the metal.
One Tokyo trading company is feeling the heat. When it sought to purchase cobalt on short-term contracts in early December, the response from suppliers in China and Western countries was the same: Their stock for 2017 had already run out.
