China’s huge deal to secure the lion’s share of global cobalt could have a big impact on ASX-listed cobalt producers.

The deal will see GEM — a $4.6 billion company listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange — buy 50,000 tonnes of cobalt from Swiss miner Glencore over the next three years.

The deal had “massive real-world implications for the availability of cobalt and for pricing”, according to an analysis by InvestorIntel.com.

Scroll down for a list of 50 ASX stocks with exposure to cobalt.

“Even 52,000 tonnes over three years sucks about one-third of the world’s supply of cobalt out of the market, an amount that can’t help but drive up the price.

“Expect the multi-year bull market in cobalt to continue. Expect to see similar but smaller announcements from other multinationals.”

It’s good news for ASX-listed cobalt stocks if global supply comes under pressure.

Cobalt is in high demand because of its use in rechargeable batteries for electric cars. One billion electric cars are expected to be on the road by 2050 and cobalt demand is expected to grow eight-fold by 2025.

ASX cobalt stocks have performed strongly over the past 12 months — with some up as much as 700 or 800 per cent.

The standout has been NSW-focused nickel and cobalt miner Collerina Cobalt (ASX:CLL) — which has also benfitted from HPA production. Collerina is up 800 per cent over the past 12 months.

Jervois Mining is not far behind with a 736 per cent gain.

Other big cobalt winners include Australian Mines, Riedel Resources and Cobalt Blue.

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) this week started an initial 3000m drilling program at its Coglia Well cobalt and nickel project 70km south-east of Laverton in Western Australia’s north-eastern goldfields.

Here is a list of 50 ASX-listed stocks with exposure to cobalt:

ASX Code Name 12-month price change Price Mar 15, 2018 Price Mar 15, 2017* 52wk Low 52wk High Market Cap
CFE CAPE LAMBERT RESOURCES 0.448275862069 0.042 0.029 0.017 0.081 34363328
NZC NZURI COPPER 0.30612244898 0.32 0.245 0.14 0.48 78354472
CZN CORAZON MINING -0.586206896552 0.012 0.029 0.011 0.035 13918117
AXE ARCHER EXPLORATION 0.310810810811 0.097 0.074 0.036 0.19 16003964
MLM METALLICA MINERALS -0.166666666667 0.05 0.06 0.035 0.076 14832576
SGQ ST GEORGE MINING 0.41935483871 0.22 0.155 0.078 0.485 51361948
AML AEON METALS 0.513513513514 0.28 0.185 0.13 0.35 155281984
MTC METALSTECH -0.136363636364 0.19 0.22 0.088 0.4 17180172
CLQ CLEAN TEQ 0.258536585366 1.29 1.025 0.54 1.78 725191040
EUC EUROPEAN COBALT 1.38636363636 0.105 0.044 0.038 0.295 76169736
MEI METEORIC RESOURCES 2.07142857143 0.043 0.014 0.012 0.095 23316936
BAR BARRA RESOURCES -0.376623376623 0.048 0.077 0.033 0.083 21792402
PGM PLATINA RESOURCES -0.107142857143 0.125 0.14 0.077 0.265 31695148
BMT BERKUT MINERALS -0.508196721311 0.15 0.305 0.14 0.47 7875916.5
ARL ARDEA RESOURCES 2 1.68 0.56 0.49 2.2 147288912
CLA CELSIUS RESOURCES 2.125 0.1 0.032 0.028 0.165 57432364
PAN PANORAMIC RESOURCES 0.585820895522 0.51 0.3216 0.1824 0.495 243338480
CNJ CONICO -0.345454545455 0.036 0.055 0.026 0.066 11322269
N27 NORTHERN COBALT (*listed Sep 22, 2017) 0.95 0.39 0.2 0.19 0.81 15182080
HMX HAMMER METALS -0.1 0.045 0.05 0.03 0.059 11832715
FCC FIRST COBALT (*listed Nov 30, 2017) -0.241379310345 1.1 1.45 0.89 1.5 116601560
COB COBALT BLUE 2.25806451613 1.01 0.31 0.14 1.01 108238880
BSX BLACKSTONE MINERALS 0.947368421053 0.37 0.19 0.165 0.655 35595764
FEL FE 0.6 0.04 0.025 0.019 0.082 14722619
LFR LONGFORD RESOURCES 0.593220338983 0.094 0.059 0.025 0.185 41577480
KOR KORAB RESOURCES 0.428571428571 0.03 0.021 0.016 0.04 8905679
HIG HIGHLANDS PACIFIC 0.223880597015 0.082 0.067 0.055 0.12 77916672
WFE WINMAR RESOURCES 0.2 0.006 0.005 0.001 0.008 11986166
VIC VICTORY MINES -0.0588235294118 0.016 0.017 0.005 0.03 13900374
LRS LATIN RESOURCES -0.266666666667 0.011 0.015 0.003 0.018 28846028
CDU CUDECO -0.356164383562 0.235 0.365 0.2 0.48 92655376
RIR RIVA RESOURCES -0.473684210526 0.01 0.019 0.003 0.0198 28038736
THX THUNDELARRA -0.569288389513 0.023 0.0534 0.02 0.06 14607205
MQR MARQUEE RESOURCES 0.795454545455 0.395 0.22 0.13 0.605 14000000
HAV HAVILAH RESOURCES -0.593368783234 0.26 0.6394 0.17 0.6984 57836000
GME GME RESOURCES 1.28571428571 0.16 0.07 0.057 0.19 76493400
CLL COLLERINA COBALT 8 0.135 0.015 0.016 0.18 71158184
JRV JERVOIS MINING 7.36236933798 0.48 0.0574 0.047 0.73 99526736
RIE RIEDEL RESOURCES 2.66666666667 0.066 0.018 0.0095 0.105 28846810
ANW AUS TIN MINING 1.2 0.022 0.01 0.006 0.038 45152928
CCZ CASTILLO COPPER 1.38888888889 0.043 0.018 0.013 0.092 26104252
AUZ AUSTRALIAN MINES 3.16666666667 0.1 0.024 0.011 0.155 281169376
PIO PIONEER RESOURCES 0.190476190476 0.025 0.021 0.014 0.046 38601056
AYR ALLOY RESOURCES -0.142857142857 0.006 0.007 0.003 0.011 8499301
MTH MITHRIL RESOURCES -0.25 0.045 0.06 0.02 0.064 6042252
TKM TREK METALS -0.603773584906 0.021 0.053 0.02 0.051 7182983
RMX RED MOUNTAIN MINING -0.71875 0.009 0.032 0.008 0.041 6224812
CGM COUGAR METALS -0.5 0.006 0.012 0.006 0.023 6424619
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The Glencore deal locks in China’s position as a market leader in the manufacturing of electric car batteries globally — given that it already produces more than 80 per cent of the world’s refined cobalt.

Prices for the metal have doubled over the past two years as electric vehicle manufacturers scramble to secure adequate supplies.

There’s a similar race to lock in supply for lithium — Australia is one of the world’s biggest suppliers — although a recent report by Morgan Stanley said increased global lithium supply will see prices fall by 45% by 2021.

GEM said increasing levels of demand meant the use of recycled cobalt metal in battery production was no longer adequate.

The company is the main cobalt supplier to Chinese batter maker CAML, which recently announced that it’s now the largest battery supplier in the world.

The total value of deal was not disclosed, but GEM will receive 13,800 tonnes in year one — increasing to 21,000 in 2020.

The FT reports that more than half of the world’s cobalt supply is mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Glencore is the world’s biggest producer.

The second largest is China Molybdenum — dual-listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai — which purchased the Tenke Fungurume mine in the DRC for $US2.65 billion in 2016.

Glencore’s cobalt mining capacity in the DRC will increase from in around 40,000 tonnes in 2018 to more than 60,000 tonnes next year.

Around 10 kilograms of cobalt is used in the production of an electric car battery — compared to around 10 grams for an iPhone.

Additional reporting from Business Insider Australia.

Content from this article first appeared on Business Insider Australia, Australia’s most popular business news website. Read the original article. Follow Business Insider on Facebook or Twitter.