【SMM Daily Review: Weak Market Sentiment at the Beginning of the Month Puts Pressure on Nickel Pig Iron Prices】

The average price of 8-12% high nickel pig iron was 930 yuan/nickel point (including tax ex-factory) on April 1st, a decrease of 1.5 yuan/nickel point compared to the previous working day. Looking at the supply side, although the approval speed of nickel ore quotas has recently accelerated significantly, it still takes time from the mine to the smelter, thus it is expected that nickel iron production during March will remain low. This week marks the first trading week of April, overlapped with the mid-week Qingming Festival holiday, and the upstream and downstream sectors are still in a deadlock, with a strong market wait-and-see sentiment. On the demand side, apart from a steel mill in South China still making purchases, other domestic steel mills have no purchasing intentions in the short term, and transactions are still dominated by the buyer's market. In summary, the current weak demand in the stainless steel terminal has led to an accumulation trend on the supply side, and it is expected that the current nickel iron prices will remain weak.