[SMM Analysis] Cost Support Strengthened, Nickel Sulphate Prices Rose

Published: Apr 30, 2026 12:01

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Cost Support Strengthened, Nickel Sulphate Prices Rose

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

Demand side, with Labour Day holiday approaching, some producers recently stockpiled ahead of the holiday. Combined with recovering production schedule expectations for May at some enterprises, acceptance of nickel salt prices increased. Supply side, as nickel prices, MHP payables, and auxiliary material prices all moved up this week, driving a significant rise in spot costs for some producers, nickel salt quoted prices rose accordingly. Looking ahead, recently

Inventory, upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index slightly rose from 5.5 days to 5.6 days this week, downstream precursor plant inventory index stayed at 11 days, and integrated enterprise inventory index declined from 7.3 days to 6.8 days. Buy-sell strength, upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor rose from 1.9 to 2 this week, downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor stayed at 2.9, and integrated enterprise sentiment factor stayed at 2.6. (Historical data available via database query)

Nickel Prices Rose Sharply, Nickel Sulphate Costs Increased

Cost side, MHP raw material market circulation was tight. Affected by sulphur shortages and HPM revisions, MHP transaction coefficients stayed high this week, with quoted coefficients further rising. Nickel prices, stimulated by news of intermediate product production halts in Indonesia, rose further this week. Overall for the week, nickel prices basically rose WoW, MHP payables held steady, driving nickel salt production spot costs up WoW.

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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