Analysis Of Material Flow Of American Cobalt(1995-2015)

The rapid development of strategic emerging industries such as clean energy,global consumption of cobalt has increased dramatically.The United States is the world's largest cobalt consumer and trade economy.Accurately grasping the trend and characteristics of cobalt flow in the United States from a full life cycle perspective is of great reference significance for ensuring the safety of China's cobalt supply and supporting the healthy development of China's strategic emerging industries.Based on a full life cycle perspective,this study establishes the theoretical framework and analytical methods for the analysis of cobalt material flow in the United States,quantitatively calculates and reveals the flow and stock and structural evolution characteristics of the various stages of production,processing,consumption and disposal of cobalt in the United States from 1995 to 2015;Combined with the analysis of the utilization efficiency of cobalt resources in various stages of the United States from the perspective of the full life cycle,it provides policy recommendations for the United States to improve the utilization efficiency of cobalt resources and achieve the safety and sustainable supply of cobalt resources.The results of this study show:(1)Over 50% of the import volume of cobalt-containing intermediate products is cobalt sulfate.About 50% of the export volume of cobalt-containing intermediate products is mainly cobalt carbonate.The import and export of cobalt-containing intermediate products are relatively simple.(2)U.S.cobalt-containing commodities were in a net import state after 2007,and were in a net export state before.The battery industry and high-temperature alloys are the two most important consumption areas of cobalt metal.The consumption of electric vehicle batteries has shown a linear growth trend since 2012.The consumption of cobalt-containing commodities in other consumption areas has grown slowly,and there has been a downward trend in recent years.(3)As of 2015,the cobalt stock in use has exceeded 40,000 tons.Among them,the stock of high-temperature alloys accounted for nearly 50%,showing a downward trend in recent years.The average annual growth rate of household consumer electronic battery in-use stocks is 24.8%.The stock of electric vehicle batteries is increasing year by year,and there is no obvious change in other consumer fields.(4)From 1995 to 2015,the total amount of in-use stocks showed an increasing trend with fluctuations.In 2003,the total amount of in-use inventory suddenly decreased,mainly due to the decrease in the in-use inventory of the superalloy industry,and the in-use inventory of the high-temperature alloy industry has been in a steady decreasing trend from 2003 to 2006.After 2007,due to the increase in the stock of the consumer electronics battery industry,the total stock in use showed a volatile growth trend.(5)The average resource loss efficiency of cobalt in the manufacturing stage of cobalt-containing intermediate products is about 30%,the average annual loss rate in the manufacturing process of cobalt-containing products is 36.19%,and the average efficiency of cobalt waste as secondary resource recovery in the waste management stage is 18.07 %.