Last week, the overall cobalt market continued to exhibit a stalemate near the bottom, with prices across various product grades trading on the weak side and no notable improvement in trading sentiment. On the cobalt salts front, a few producers offloaded cobalt sulfate at low prices, while transactions of cobalt chloride virtually ground to a halt. Electrolytic cobalt fluctuated within a low range, with high inventories and sluggish demand capping the upside for price recovery. Co3O4 and lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) consolidated in a rigid stalemate, as downstream buyers maintained only essential procurement while large-scale restocking had yet to be initiated. Midweek, news that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had reclaimed unused export quotas boosted market sentiment, leading to an uptick in inquiries. However, the underlying supply-demand dynamics have not fundamentally changed.