Acceptable Prices of Precursor Varied due to Different Purchasing Demand

SHANGHAI, Apr 7 (SMM) - Nickel Sulphate: This week, the price difference of nickel sulphate was still obvious. The enthusiasm of the precursor manufacturers for the inquiry was better and heated the market. However, due to the comprehensive influence of the cost, capital situation and inventory of the precursor factories, the transaction range was quite different. From the cost side, some large nickel salt enterprises are still influenced by the LME price because most of the raw materials are imported intermediate products. Under the high cost, the quotation and some transaction prices remained high. The difference was highlighted by the low-priced goods in the market. SMM expects that after the current consumption of low-priced goods, the trading of nickel sulphate will see an increase.

Cathode Material and Precursor: The prices of ternary cathode material precursors remained unchanged this week. The price of cobalt salt and the cost of precursor fell slightly, while prices of nickel salt were stable. Recently, the long-term orders of April for the precursor were delivered one after another, but the game of price between buyers and sellers still existed. The downstream market was very slack in recent days. Many small and medium-sized precursor enterprises considered reducing production or even stopping production in April. Prices of ternary cathode materials were steady, and the cost of precursor and lithium salt were relatively stable.

On the supply side, the output of high-grade NPI was affected by orders and declined, while that of medium and low-grade NPI was stable. On the demand side, the reduction of small motive power and digital equipment was significant, thus the demand dropped slightly. Supported by the cost, the price was temporarily stable. Subsequently, the prices will fall slightly together with the nickel prices. While LFP prices are stable. On the terminal side, the battery cells of some battery companies were destocking. The demand for low and medium-end energy storage and small motive power decreased, and some LFP production declined. Recently, the prices of lithium salt dropped due to the dumping of goods by traders. However, LFP mainly consumed the stock of lithium carbonate reserved in the second half of March, which supported and stabilised the LFP prices.

Disclaimer:

The above representation and data is based on market information SMM believes to be reliable at the time of acquiring as well as the comprehensive assessment by SMM research team, and any and all information provided in this article is for reference only. This article does not constitute a direct recommendation for investment or any decisions in any form and clients shall act on their own discreet and any decisions made by clients are not within the responsibility of SMM.