SMM Nickel News: High-Grade NPI Sentiment Index Falls in May

On May 8, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Mineral and Coal under ESDM held a public consultation on the proposed PP 19/2025 amendment, covering royalty adjustments for several minerals. For nickel ore, the proposal lowers the lowest HMA threshold from below $18,000/mt to below $16,000/mt, and the top threshold from $31,000/mt and above to $26,000/mt and above. The structure would expand from five to six brackets, with rates ranging from 14% to 19%. Based on today’s nickel HMA of $17,802/mt, the applicable nickel ore royalty would rise from 14% to 15% if implemented. The proposal also adds a 2% royalty on cobalt in nickel matte and non-nickel smelting products, and a 2.5% royalty for Alloy Pig Iron. Whether this affects mainstream NPI depends on Indonesia’s final product classification.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 08 May , 2026