Spread Between Nickel Sulphate and Nickel Narrows as Nickel Sulphate Prices Stabilise

SHANGHAI, Feb 27 (SMM) - Quotes of battery-grade nickel sulphate were 39,700-40,600 yuan/mt last Friday, up 150 yuan/mt from the previous Friday. SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate price index was 39,478 yuan/mt last Friday, up 351 yuan/mt from the previous Friday. The growth of nickel sulphate prices slowed down last week, and the trading volume declined compared with the previous period. The price difference between nickel sulphate and pure nickel has gradually narrowed in recent days amid the slumping pure nickel prices and the surging nickel sulphate brought about by the growing demand. Premiums of battery-grade nickel sulphate over first-grade nickel plate stood at 21,854 yuan/mt. Accordingly, the profit margins of electrowinning nickel companies which used nickel sulphate to produce finished products fell. Therefore, nickel sulphate purchasing volume from electrowinning nickel companies dropped. Besides, the recovery of ternary precursor enterprises fell short of expectations, and the companies placed almost no small orders for nickel sulphate. In the new energy sector, the production resumption of automakers did not meet market expectations, and the ternary cathode factories lowered their purchase prices of precursors. The precursor coefficient dropped. Precursor factories could not accept the current nickel sulphate prices amid huge cost pressure. The cost efficiency of nickel sulphate in producing electrowinning nickel will drop slightly this week when the prices of nickel decline. Short-term battery-grade nickel sulphate prices can barely fall with the cost support and are expected to