Spot Nickel Sulphate Supply Remains Tight, Nickel Salt Prices Continued to Rise This Week
As of Friday, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price stood at 27,718 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 27,770-27,970 yuan/mt, and the average price further increased WoW.
Demand side, after the month-end raw material procurement peak among downstream enterprises, some precursor plants still had raw material demand this week, with improved acceptance of nickel salt prices. Supply side, nickel salt smelters had limited spot supply, coupled with cost pressure from high-priced raw materials, supporting the continuous rise in nickel salt quotations. Looking ahead, some downstream enterprises still have procurement demand, and with the current tight spot nickel sulphate supply, nickel salt prices are expected to have further upside potential.
Inventory side, the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index remained at 4.4 days this week, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index increased from 9.5 days to 9.7 days, reflecting inventory growth after month-end procurement completion. The integrated enterprise inventory index remained at 7.3 days. On the trading strength side, the upstream nickel salt smelter's Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor rose from 1.4 to 1.5 this week, while the downstream precursor plant's procurement sentiment factor declined from 3.3 to 3.0, as some producers' procurement sentiment pulled back after completing stockpiling at month-end. The integrated enterprise sentiment factor decreased from 2.5 to 2.4. (Historical data can be queried in the database.)
Nickel Prices Edged Up Slightly This Week, Nickel Salt Production Costs Rose
Cost side, MHP raw material market circulation remained tight, with the MHP payable indicator staying high this week. Nickel prices side, the market initially rose driven by protests in Indonesia, but later pulled back as the events did not affect nickel ore supply, coupled with the strengthening US dollar index. LME nickel prices showed a slight increase WoW. Overall, nickel prices increased marginally WoW, with the MHP payable indicator remaining high, leading to higher immediate production costs for nickel salts compared to last week. As of Friday, the profit margins stood at -1.4% for MHP, -2.3% for crude slag, -2.7% for nickel briquette, and 2.9% for high-grade nickel matte.
