【SMM Nickel Flash News】PT Vale Indonesia Suspends Some Mining Sites Amid RKAB Delays; Core Sorowako Operations Unaffected

Asian stainless steel prices held stable for a third consecutive week, with Chinese Taiwan's export quotes unchanged and Chinese export offers rebounding to steady levels after a brief dip earlier in the month. Raw material trends diverged, LME nickel prices softened while Indonesian NPI gained ground; Chinese domestic ferronickel stabilized and stainless steel futures posted a weekly gain. Trading activity remains quiet during the traditional off-season, though consumption levels are running ahead of the same period last year. A recent Middle East peace accord helped nickel prices bounce back, pointing to a firm short-term market trend.

The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has officially released the Nickel Mineral Reference Price (HMA) for the second half of June 2026. The HMA for the second half of June is as follows: the nickel price is $18,642.33 per ton (compared to the first half of June 2026, 18799.29 USD/ton), a decrease of 156.95 USD of 0.83%; the price of cobalt is 55,852.33 US dollars per ton; the HMA of iron ore is 1.58 USD/ton; and the HMA of chrome ore price is 6.37 USD/ton. • Ni 1.2%: USD 49.53/wmt (↓ $0.32) • Ni 1.3%: USD 54.25/wmt (↓ $0.36) • Ni 1.4%: USD 59.52/wmt (↓ $0.48) • Ni 1.5%: USD 64.73/wmt (↓ $0.52) • Ni 1.6%: USD 70.19/wmt (↓ $0.57)

[SMM Nickel Flash] This week, the cost trends of high-grade NPI in and outside China diverged once again, with the profitability gap continuing to widen. The cash cost of high-grade NPI in China extended its downward trend, primarily driven by increased arrivals of Philippine nickel ore and persistently weakening prices, directly reducing smelting’s core raw material costs, while overall production costs pulled back in tandem.