Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,619.5/mt, hitting an intraday high of $9,635.5/mt shortly after the opening bell.

On Thursday (June 19) during the early trading session of the US stock market, US President Trump posted that he believed the US Fed should have cut interest rates by 250 basis points in its decision the previous day.

[Morning Meeting Minutes on June 20] In terms of cost, nickel prices returned to fundamentals and declined slightly this week, and the production cost of nickel salts weakened. Demand side, some precursor plants began to inquire about next month's orders this week, but overall demand remained sluggish, and their acceptance of nickel salt prices was low. In terms of supply, some nickel salt smelters had high in-plant inventory and faced shipping pressure, and nickel salt quotes also loosened.

Weak demand for nickel salts leads to continuous price decline

As of now, the MHP coefficient (relative to the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index) ranges from 83.5% to 84%, and the FOB price of Indonesian MHP is $12,494/mt Ni.