Prices of Nickel Sulphate Continue to Decline last Week amid Poor Downstream Demand

SHANGHAI, Mar 15 (SMM) - Last Friday, quotes of battery-grade nickel sulphate were 39,000-39,600 yuan/mt, down 700 yuan/mt WoW. SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate price index was 38,881 yuan/mt, down 324 yuan/mt WoW. On the demand side, bearish news about pure nickel released at the end of February weighed heavily on nickel prices. Last week, the minimum spread between battery-grade nickel sulphate and first-grade nickel plate narrowed to 3,913 yuan/mt. Electrowinning nickel companies which produced finished products with nickel sulphate almost gained no profits, thus some reduced their purchases. In addition, the demand for nickel sulphate from ternary precursor companies was also poor, who also lowered their purchase prices. This was because car makers' production resumption pace was slower than expected, and precursor factories undercut the purchase prices of nickel sulphate under cost pressure, hence the market saw few transactions of small orders. The nickel sulphate market was in a supply surplus on the weakening demand last week, which could not offer strong support to the prices. However, raw material stocks carried by nickel salt plants were high due to the rapid rise in nickel sulphate prices before, which will curb the nickel sulphate from falling to some extent. It is now a critical moment of the game between buyers and sellers. In the short term, nickel sulphate prices are expected to go down to 38,500-39,500 yuan/mt this week.