SMM Nickel Update: High-Grade NPI Sentiment Factors Rise in June

[Yunnan Energy Investment: Company Plans to Invest in the Mugua Ping Wind Farm Project] Yunnan Energy Investment announced that its controlling shareholder, Yunnan Energy Group, was the bid winner for the Fuyuan County Mugua Ping Wind Farm Project under Yunnan Province's third batch of new energy projects in 2025. In accordance with Yunnan Energy Group's overall strategy and the relevant requirements for the development and construction of Yunnan Province's third batch of new energy projects in 2025, the company will actively proceed with the construction of the Fuyuan County Mugua Ping Wind Farm Project. The project is expected to have a total installed capacity of 25 MW and a total construction period of 10 months.

According to SMM data, on June 16, the FOB price of Indonesia MHP nickel fell by $98/mt Ni from yesterday, and the FOB price of Indonesia MHP cobalt rose by $10/mt Co. The FOB price of Indonesia high-grade nickel matte fell by $99/mt Ni.

While upstream MHP payables stayed high, auxiliary material prices such as sulphur and sulphuric acid continued to climb, and downstream ternary production schedules remained at high levels, the performance of battery-grade nickel sulphate prices was not optimistic. SMM believes this was driven by multiple factors, including weakening cost support, front-loaded downstream stockpiling, increased import supplementation, and higher volumes of nickel sulphate converted from refined nickel.