[SMM Analysis] Trading Sentiment Slightly Rebounded, Nickel Salt Prices Rose

Published: May 28, 2026 13:43
As of Thursday this week, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate average price rose slightly.

Demand side, it was the month-end procurement period, and some downstream enterprises stocked up raw materials. However, as nickel prices performed weakly, downstream acceptance of nickel salt prices showed no significant improvement. Supply side, as current MHP payables and auxiliary material prices remained high, some producers had relatively high spot costs, and nickel salt quotations stayed high. Looking ahead, the tight raw material situation is expected to continue, and attention should be paid to the cost support from nickel prices and intermediate products for nickel salt prices.

Inventory, upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index stayed at 7.9 days this week, downstream precursor plant inventory index rose from 8.9 days to 9.5 days, and integrated enterprise inventory index stayed at 6.8 days. Buy-sell strength, upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor stayed at 2 this week, downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor rose from 2.5 to 2.7, and integrated enterprise sentiment factor stayed at 2.4. (Historical data can be accessed via the database.)

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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