[SMM Analysis] Spot supply of nickel sulphate is tight, and nickel salt prices rose slightly this week

Spot supply of nickel sulphate is tight, and nickel salt prices have risen slightly this week.

As of Friday this week, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,032 yuan/mt, with a quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate of 27,030-27,530 yuan/mt, and the average price slightly increased WoW.

Demand side, some producers have restocking demands recently, and purchasing sentiment has slightly recovered WoW. However, the purchasing period has not yet fully commenced, and the overall enthusiasm for buying in the market has not significantly increased. The price acceptance of nickel salts by precursor plants has also not significantly improved. Supply side, the overall inventory levels of nickel salt smelters are low, with limited available finished products. Coupled with the cost pressure from high-priced raw materials, some producers have a reluctance to budge on prices. Looking ahead, the purchasing period for precursor plants is approaching at month-end. Given the current tight supply of finished nickel sulphate products, it is expected that nickel salt prices will slightly rebound.

Nickel prices have risen this week, and the production cost of nickel salts has increased.

Cost side, the raw material market has been sluggish this week, with the MHP coefficient remaining stable. Regarding nickel prices, the domestic macro tailwinds this week have driven LME nickel prices to fluctuate upward. Overall, nickel prices have generally risen this week, and the immediate production cost of nickel sulphate has increased. As of Friday this week, the profit margin using MHP was -2.7%, using crude slag was -4.7%, using nickel briquette was -4.8%, and using high-grade nickel matte was 1.0%.