wayneinkeywest on wed 21 jan 04
After last night's debacle concerning calcium carbonate,=20
I finished my meal of crow (ptoo! ptooey!) and decided=20
to go an a search for yet more information.
Went to http://www.ceramicindustry.com, and=20
"for laughs" checked out the advertisers for the=20
January edition while perusing the site.
Long story shorter, found a company called=20
Umicore that apparently mines cobalt carbonate.
Wanna know why it's so expensive? Because it=20
is the leading ingredient in lithium-ion (li-ion)=20
batteries for, among other things...cell phones and
all those cordless tools everyone is so fond of.
Umicore is "expanding operations in China as a=20
result of the "tremendous growth" in the cobalt market."
(my quotes)
What does this mean for potters? Buy your cobalts=20
now, for the price is surely going to increase.=20
(One can only pull so much from the ground at one time
without significant (read: expensive) investments in=20
technology and labor. Those investors are going to want
a decent return on their investment, which of course
translates to..you guessed it: higher prices.)
If you have a few extra bucks (yeah, ok, ok)
you might want to find companies that are mining=20
the stuff and invest in them. It could be a lucrative=20
long-term investment.
No, I'm not an investment professional, so take that=20
for what it's worth. Considering that so many people=20
were caught "unaware" when Gerstley Borate went=20
out the window (on the heels of Albany Slip etc.)
maybe we need to pay a bit more attention to where
the "ingredients" for our products come from, and what=20
is happening in those markets.
Just a thought.
Wayne Seidl
still spittin' feathers
Jon Brinley on wed 21 jan 04
Wayne,
Do you think this is why they want us to recycle those old cell =
phone, cordless drill batteries.
Or could this be a resource of cobalt that potters haven't tried...I =
can see it now, potters the world over taking a hammer to their =
rechargeable batteries in hopes of a new glaze colorant. A colorant that =
has reached out and touched someone. They will have names like....Free =
Roaming Blue...Blue Nights and Weekends...Can You Hear Me Blue.
----- Original Message -----=20
From: wayneinkeywest=20
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG=20
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 4:32 AM
Subject: Cobalt and the world market (longish)
After last night's debacle concerning calcium carbonate,=20
I finished my meal of crow (ptoo! ptooey!) and decided=20
to go an a search for yet more information.
Went to http://www.ceramicindustry.com, and=20
"for laughs" checked out the advertisers for the=20
January edition while perusing the site.
Long story shorter, found a company called=20
Umicore that apparently mines cobalt carbonate.
Wanna know why it's so expensive? Because it=20
is the leading ingredient in lithium-ion (li-ion)=20
batteries for, among other things...cell phones and
all those cordless tools everyone is so fond of.
Umicore is "expanding operations in China as a=20
result of the "tremendous growth" in the cobalt market."
(my quotes)
What does this mean for potters? Buy your cobalts=20
now, for the price is surely going to increase.=20
(One can only pull so much from the ground at one time
without significant (read: expensive) investments in=20
technology and labor. Those investors are going to want
a decent return on their investment, which of course
translates to..you guessed it: higher prices.)
If you have a few extra bucks (yeah, ok, ok)
you might want to find companies that are mining=20
the stuff and invest in them. It could be a lucrative=20
long-term investment.
No, I'm not an investment professional, so take that=20
for what it's worth. Considering that so many people=20
were caught "unaware" when Gerstley Borate went=20
out the window (on the heels of Albany Slip etc.)
maybe we need to pay a bit more attention to where
the "ingredients" for our products come from, and what=20
is happening in those markets.
Just a thought.
Wayne Seidl
still spittin' feathers
=
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Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at =
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David Hendley on thu 22 jan 04
Wayne, with the benefit of 30 years of using and buying
cobalt, I can tell you that the market price for cobalt is
actually extremely stable. Really, I am pretty certain
that the price has not kept pace with overall inflation
of the last decades, and costs less, in real terms, today
than it did 10 or 20 years ago.
One time, about 10 or 15 years ago, the price did
increase significantly, but it went back down again. As
I understand it, this had to do with political instability
in Africa.
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
After last night's debacle concerning calcium carbonate,
I finished my meal of crow (ptoo! ptooey!) and decided
to go an a search for yet more information.
Went to http://www.ceramicindustry.com, and
"for laughs" checked out the advertisers for the
January edition while perusing the site.
Long story shorter, found a company called
Umicore that apparently mines cobalt carbonate.
Wanna know why it's so expensive? Because it
is the leading ingredient in lithium-ion (li-ion)
batteries for, among other things...cell phones and
all those cordless tools everyone is so fond of.
Mert & Holly Kilpatrick on fri 23 jan 04
Actually, it might be to potter's advantage if China provides competition to
other cobalt suppliers. And the more cobalt is used in industry, the more
available it would be to potters.
Holly
East Bangor, PA
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of David Hendley
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 8:52 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Cobalt and the world market (longish)
Wayne, with the benefit of 30 years of using and buying
cobalt, I can tell you that the market price for cobalt is
actually extremely stable. Really, I am pretty certain
that the price has not kept pace with overall inflation
of the last decades, and costs less, in real terms, today
than it did 10 or 20 years ago.
One time, about 10 or 15 years ago, the price did
increase significantly, but it went back down again. As
I understand it, this had to do with political instability
in Africa.
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
After last night's debacle concerning calcium carbonate,
I finished my meal of crow (ptoo! ptooey!) and decided
to go an a search for yet more information.
Went to http://www.ceramicindustry.com, and
"for laughs" checked out the advertisers for the
January edition while perusing the site.
Long story shorter, found a company called
Umicore that apparently mines cobalt carbonate.
Wanna know why it's so expensive? Because it
is the leading ingredient in lithium-ion (li-ion)
batteries for, among other things...cell phones and
all those cordless tools everyone is so fond of.
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