On July 16, the market price of electrolytic cobalt slumped Yuan 8,454/tonne to Yuan 366,409-370,182/tonne. Moreover, the market prices of cobalt sulfate and cobalt chloride continued to be unchanged flat at Yuan 85,000/t-86,000/t and 102,000-104,000/t respectively.The Strategic Minerals Market Regulatory Authority of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced on June 30 that unused cobalt export quotas from the first half of the year would be directly invalidated and would not be allowed to be carried over to the second half, tightening expectations for cobalt raw material supply. However, recycled cobalt supply reached 21,000 tonnes in H1, with full-year projections of 45,000-50,000 tonnes, which could meet approximately 35% of China's cobalt demand, thereby partially alleviating supply shortages.During July 112, national retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles declined by 8% year-on-year and by 3% month-on-month compared with the previous period.