SMM Nickel: Futures Plunge, Spot Market Diverges, NPI Sentiment Mixed

On June 22, 2026, Jilin Ji En Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. officially energized and commissioned its new electrodeposited nickel production line at its headquarters in Panshi City, Jilin Province. According to SMM, the newly commissioned electrodeposited nickel capacity is 5,000 mt/year. As a long-established nickel producer in China, Ji En Nickel’s “Ji En” brand refined nickel was registered on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) in March 2015, making it one of the early nickel products in China to receive futures delivery brand certification. It completed registration on the London Metal Exchange (LME) at the end of 2025, becoming an LME-registered delivery brand.

India's Ministry of Mines is expected to unveil an incentive package of approximately US$317 million to develop domestic nickel and lithium processing capacities, according to government sources. To qualify, investors must establish nickel processing plants of at least 50,000 mt/year. Nickel is a critical input in stainless steel production and is also used as an additive in heavy-duty structural carbon steel.

Japan's government issued a preliminary determination on June 19, stating that nickel-based stainless steel cold-rolled strips and sheets from China and Chinese Taiwan are being dumped at unfairly low prices. Temporary anti-dumping duties are expected to be imposed as early as July, with dumping margins of 3.86–20.71% for Chinese Taiwanese suppliers and 33.29–45.32% for Chinese suppliers. Market expect the practical impact to be limited: Chinese Taiwan exported approximately 124,000 tons of 304 cold-rolled stainless steel in the first five months of this year, of which only around 6400 tons, or 5.16% of total exports, were destined for Japan.