[SMM Analysis] Spot Nickel Sulphate Supply Remains Tight, Nickel Sulphate Prices Continue to Rise This Week

Spot supply of nickel sulphate remains tight, with prices continuing to rise this week.

As of Thursday, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,418 yuan/mt, and the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate was 27,450-27,790 yuan/mt, with the average price rising further WoW.

Demand side, some precursor plants have low raw material inventories and recently have restocking needs, showing more active inquiries and a higher acceptance of nickel salt prices. Supply side, there is limited spot supply from nickel salt smelters in the form of spot orders, coupled with high raw material cost pressures, supporting the continuous upward trend in nickel salt quotations. Looking ahead, as the month-end procurement period approaches, with current tight spot supply of nickel sulphate, it is expected that nickel salt prices will continue to rise.

Inventory, the inventory index of upstream nickel salt smelters decreased from 5.8 days to 5 days this week, while the inventory index of downstream precursor plants fell from 10.6 days to 10.2 days, indicating a decline in both buyers' and sellers' inventories; the inventory index for integrated enterprises was 7.4 days. In terms of market sentiment, the sentiment factor for upstream nickel salt smelters dropped from 1.5 to 1.4, and the purchasing sentiment factor for downstream precursor plants decreased from 3.1 to 3.0, reflecting that although some buyers still have purchasing needs, the selling sentiment is weak; the sentiment factor for integrated enterprises remained at 1.8. (Historical data can be accessed through the database.)