You are one of the mid-level production managers at Samsung. Over the last few years, you've been monitoring a global trend of rising demand for cobalt due to continued economic growth as well as high demand for electronic devices in China and other emerging economies. Cobalt is one of the key components in the production of screen technology in electronic devices. In addition, you've noted that cobalt markets have experienced an increase in the cost of mining cobalt due to higher energy prices. As a result, what have you observed in the market for cobalt?

a. lower equilibrium cobalt prices and either higher or lower quantities.

b. higher equilibrium cobalt prices and unambiguously higher quantities.

c. higher equilibrium cobalt prices and unambiguously lower quantities.

d. higher equilibrium cobalt prices and either higher or lower quantities.