On August 12, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price stood at 27,291 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 27,250-27,770 yuan/mt, and the average price rose compared to the previous day.
Cost side, expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts and eased US trade policies drove a sustained rebound in LME nickel prices, lifting the immediate costs for nickel salts. Supply side, nickel salt smelters maintained low spot inventory levels with limited finished product availability, coupled with raw material cost pressures, leading them to refuse to budge on prices. Demand side, some precursor plants still had restocking needs recently, showing active inquiries and increased price acceptance. Today, the sentiment factor for upstream nickel salt smelters' sales was 1.6, while downstream precursor plants' purchasing sentiment factor was 3.1, and integrated enterprises' sentiment factor was 1.7 (historical data can be queried in the database).
Looking ahead, the current nickel sulphate market exhibits a tight supply-demand pattern, and nickel salt prices are expected to rebound.
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