How Does the Hottest Metals Trade Work? First, Find Storage
- Cobalt prices surging on battery demand for electric vehicles
- Funds like Pala Investments see stockpiling metal as best bet
Cobalt nuggets.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Pala Investments Ltd. fund manager Anthony Milewski figures one of the best payoffs from a global boom in electric vehicles will be a hard, gray metal that so far has drawn little interest from investors. That’s why he’s stockpiling it.
During the past year, the Switzerland-based mining fund has been buying cobalt, an essential element in the lithium-ion batteries powering Tesla Motors Inc. cars as well as all sorts of mobile devices. Even after a 50 percent surge in prices last year, Milewski and other bulls expect more gains as companies like General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG make their own electronic vehicles.