On July 17, the market price of electrolytic cobalt declined Yuan 4,500/tonne to Yuan 361,909-365,682/tonne. In addition, the market prices of cobalt sulfate and cobalt chloride continued to be stable at Yuan 85,000/t-86,000/t and 102,000-104,000/t respectively.Last week, the cobalt salt market continued its weakening trend, with cobalt sulfate transactions remaining persistently sluggish. Primary smelters maintained firm offers at elevated levels, holding the line at Yuan 85,000/tonne. Meanwhile, some recycling smelters, in a bid to accelerate capital turnover, kept their lowest prices in the range of Yuan 80,00081,000/tonne, while high-nickel resources were priced slightly lower, further widening the price spread. On the demand side, no significant improvement was observed, as leading producers still held relatively ample inventories and have not yet released any procurement requirements.