Nickel prices surged during the night session and fluctuated with a pullback in the morning session. [SMM Nickel Spot Cargo Midday Review]

Published: Mar 27, 2025 13:27

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Nickel prices surged during the night session and then fluctuated and pulled back in the morning session. The mainstream spot premiums for Jinchuan No. 1 nickel were quoted in the range of 1,800-1,900 yuan/mt, with an average premium of 1,850 yuan/mt, up by 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The premiums and discounts for Russian nickel were quoted in the range of -100 to 100 yuan/mt, remaining at parity, unchanged from the previous trading day.

SMM March 27: Spot premiums/discounts: The mainstream spot premium quotation range for Jinchuan No.1 nickel was 1,800-1,900 yuan/mt, with an average premium of 1,850 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The premium/discount quotation range for Russian nickel was -100 to 100 yuan/mt, at parity, unchanged from the previous trading day.

Futures side: Nickel prices fluctuated rangebound after opening today. As of 11:30, the closing price was 129,900 yuan/mt, still up 0.11% from the previous trading day's settlement price, with a low of 129,600 yuan/mt.

Spot premiums/discounts side: Jinchuan brand nickel rose 50 yuan from the previous trading day. Recently, nickel prices have been fluctuating, and traders have appropriately raised the premium range to protect profits, while waiting for market demand to recover.

Macro side: SHFE nickel futures contracts dropped slightly after opening in the morning session, but nickel prices received some support as mining progress and output in Indonesia have not yet met expectations. Follow-up attention will be paid to the progress of tax policy releases.

Price spread with nickel sulphate: Today's SMM1# refined nickel price was 129,700-132,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 130,850 yuan/mt, down 25 yuan/mt from the previous trading day's spot price. The price spread range was about 2,531 yuan/mt (Ni contained), with nickel sulphate still at a discount to refined nickel.

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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