[SMM Analysis] Weakening Cost Support Drives Nickel Salt Prices Lowe

Published: Jun 25, 2026 13:50

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As of this Thursday, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate average price declined.

Demand side, at the mid-year reporting period, the downstream sector mainly focused on consuming inventories this week, with weak stockpiling sentiment and low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Supply side, MHP payables and auxiliary material prices remained high, but the sharp drop in nickel prices this week still impacted the cost support for nickel salts, with some producers releasing previous inventories. Looking ahead, expectations of tight nickel sulphate raw material supply have not yet improved, and attention should be paid to the cost support strength of nickel prices and intermediate products on nickel salt prices.

In terms of inventory, this week, the inventory index of upstream nickel salt smelters slipped from 8.5 days to 8.2 days, the inventory index of downstream precursor plants fell from 10.9 days to 9.9 days, and the inventory index of integrated enterprises remained at 7.0 days. Regarding the balance of buying and selling, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor of upstream nickel salt smelters stayed at 1.8, the purchasing sentiment factor of downstream precursor plants stayed at 2.5, and the sentiment factor of integrated enterprises stayed at 2.4. (Historical data can be accessed in the database)

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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