On April 17, the price of electrolytic cobalt moved down Yuan 1,477/tonne to Yuan 410,136-412,591/tonne from the previous trading day. Moreover, the prices of cobalt sulfate and cobalt chloride continued to remain flat at Yuan 94,000/t-97,500/t and 114,000-119,000/t respectively.Supported strongly by raw material costs, mainstream smelters showed a clear intention to hold prices firm for cobalt sulfate. However, downstream manufacturers maintained a strong inclination to pressure prices downward, leading to a slight decline in market quotes. The mainstream transaction price remained around Yuan 93,000/tonne.