On September 15, the SMM average price of battery-grade nickel sulphate declined.
Cost side, the US Fed kicked off its rate-setting meeting today, with base metals broadly in the doldrums on risk-off sentiment. Nickel prices slumped again today, pushing down the spot production cost of nickel sulphate. Supply side, some producers held relatively high inventory levels and sought production cuts to destock, with supply edging slightly lower overall. Demand side, some downstream enterprises still relied mainly on long-term contract supply, with weak sentiment for building inventory via spot orders and relatively low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters stood at 2.1, the procurement sentiment factor for downstream precursor plants stood at 2.1, and the sentiment factor for integrated enterprises stood at 2.3 (historical data can be queried in the database).
Looking ahead, spot market activity is expected to remain subdued in the short term, with nickel sulphate prices broadly under pressure.
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