What is driving the price gap between cobalt metal, cobalt oxide and cobalt sulfate?

What is driving the price gap between cobalt metal, cobalt oxide and cobalt sulfate?
The three products diverge because of cobalt content and downstream destination. Cobalt metal, at roughly 286,000-295,000 yuan per tonne, serves superalloys, defense and exports. Co3O4, quoted around 255,000-275,000 yuan per tonne, feeds 3C lithium cobalt oxide, where one tonne carries about 0.73 tonnes of cobalt. Cobalt sulfate, at only 67,000-69,000 yuan per tonne, contains roughly 0.20 tonnes of cobalt and tracks the ternary precursor chain, which is being squeezed by LFP and sodium-ion batteries. Lower cobalt content means weaker pricing power. August cobalt sulfate output fell 8.85% year on year while average prices dropped about 11.8% within the month, confirming that the ternary side is the weakest link.