On October 12, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulfate index price was 32,202 yuan/ton, an increase of 25 yuan/ton from before the holiday. The price of battery-grade nickel sulfate was 32,100-33,000 yuan/ton, and the average price increased by 100 yuan/ton from before the holiday. Yuan / ton. Nickel sulfate prices rose slightly last week and then stabilized. From the perspective of nickel salt production enterprises, although the tight supply of raw materials after the holiday may have eased with China's arrival in Hong Kong, the overall tight trend has not been reversed. Some nickel salt manufacturers are worried about the supply of raw materials. Coupled with the production reduction of salt plants in September and pre-holiday stocking, the spot circulation is still at a low level. The reluctance to sell has emerged. The quotations rose at the beginning of the week and then firmed up. From the demand side, on the electro-nickel side, as the upside-down pattern of nickel sulfate compared to first-grade nickel (briquette) was reversed today, the current premium of nickel sulfate to first-grade nickel (briquette) is 255 yuan/ton, and the use of nickel sulfate to produce electro-nickel is a loss. Therefore, the purchase of nickel sulfate by the electro-nickel end tends to stagnate. On the precursor side, the situation of restocking and superimposing orders before the holiday was poor. After active inquiries at the beginning of last week, inquiry and transaction activity during the week fell simultaneously, and the wait-and-see attitude was strong. Overall demand weakened. On the cost side, as mentioned above, the arrival of Huafei in Hong Kong may alleviate the tight situation of raw materials, but the current tight supply situation has not yet been reversed. Therefore, the current raw material coefficient quotation in the market is still at a relatively high level, with a coefficient of 76-78 for the LME nickel price. Cost-side support remains strong. Taken together, the fundamentals have weakened as the procurement pace of electro-deposited nickel terminals has slowed down, the precursor order situation is still poor, and replenishment is just needed, but the cost-side support is still strong. This week has entered into rhythmic stocking. As the current spot stock is still tight, nickel sulfate prices have mainly stabilized and are under upward pressure.
Written by SMM Nickel Research, if you have any questions about the nickel market, please don't hesitate to talk with me Fancyli@smm.cn
