Spot prices of nickel sulphate rose amid reduced production at plants for lack of raw materials

SHANGHAI, Feb 2 (SMM)—The nickel futures prices fluctuated downward after rising, and the spot supply of battery-grade nickel sulphate was still in short supply. Nickel salt plants were more active in quotation last week, and market transactions increased on the week, with the mainstream prices between 32,500-33,000 yuan/mt.

Most nickel salt plants will maintain production during CNY. Some plants will maintain full production, and some will slightly reduce production due to the short raw material supply. Only two nickel salt plants in East China will stop production due to power restrictions and maintenance, and 2,500 mt of nickel sulphate output will be reduced.

Therefore, the prices of battery-grade nickel sulphate are expected to move between 32,500-33,500 yuan/mt this week.

On the GEM investor exchange meeting on January 28, Zhang Kun and Pan Hua gave reports on the company’s research results, next-generation product development strategy, and precursor market conditions. Chairman Xu Kaihua also interpreted GEM’s major developing strategy during "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

The high-pressure reactor will be shipped to Indonesia for the Qingmeibang project. The first phase of the 30,000 mt nickel production line construction will be completed in 2021, and the construction of the tailings dam is expected to be completed in 2021. The project is likely to be put into production in 2022. With the implementation of 14th Five-Year Plan and policies on carbon emission, domestic and global new energy vehicle industry is expected to expand rapidly since 2021, and the demand for battery-grade nickel sulphate will surge. SMM expects that the nickel consumption by precursors will increase by 44.8% year on year. In 2021, two projects of Lygend and PT. Gebe industry Nickel will supply 13,000 mt (Ni concent) of nickel intermediate products to the domestic nickel sulphate market, but the suspension of VNC will reduce the supply by at least 15,000 mt (Ni content), which will lead to a tight supply of nickel intermediates as the main raw material of nickel sulphate. Therefore, downstream plants are more willing to stock the raw materials. GEM accelerated the construction and commissioning of the Qingmeibang project to provide sufficient resources for the company to further expand the production capacity of high-nickel ternary precursors.