SHANGHAI — China’s imports of cobalt ore and concentrate rose 14.4 percent month on month to 15,349 tonnes in September, according to the latest Chinese customs data.

However, the tally remained 32.5 percent below the year-earlier tally, indicating that local demand remains generally weak for raw materials due to an ailing market.

"There is some demand from smelters, although they all bargain hard," a cobalt concentrate trader told AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin.

For the first eight months of 2012, China’s cobalt concentrate imports fell 48 percent to 140,711 tonnes.

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin.