[SMM Analysis] Tighter Expectations for Intermediate Product Supply, Nickel Sulphate Prices Rose Slightly

Published: Mar 12, 2026 10:44

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

Demand side, some producers recently began making inquiries, and procurement sentiment improved somewhat, but as downstream orders remained unclear, they still took a wait-and-see attitude toward high-priced nickel salt. Supply side, due to uncertainty in Indonesian MHP supply recently, some producers expected raw material costs to rise and raised their offers accordingly. Looking ahead, Q2 is about to begin. Attention should be paid to support from the raw material side for nickel sulphate prices.

Inventory side, this week the inventory index at upstream nickel salt smelters remained at 4.7 days, the inventory index at downstream precursor plants fell from 7.4 days to 7.1 days, and the inventory index at integrated enterprises declined from 7 days to 6.8 days. In terms of buyer-seller balance, this week the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor at upstream nickel salt smelters remained at 1.8, the procurement sentiment factor at downstream precursor plants remained at 2.7, transaction sentiment recovered slightly, and the sentiment factor at integrated enterprises remained at 2.4. (Historical data is available 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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