On September 8, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,726 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 27,770-27,970 yuan/mt, and the average price was flat WoW.
Cost side, the latest US non-farm payrolls data fell short of market expectations, strengthening market expectations for an interest rate cut, and LME nickel prices rose, increasing the immediate production cost for nickel salt smelters; Supply side, nickel salt smelters maintained low inventory levels, spot order availability in the market was limited, and coupled with cost pressure from raw materials, this strongly supported nickel salt smelters' quotations; Demand side, the mainstream purchase period had passed, leading to relatively reduced market transactions, though some manufacturers still had purchase needs recently. Today, the willingness to sell sentiment factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 1.5, the purchase sentiment factor for downstream precursor plants was 2.9, and the sentiment factor for integrated enterprises was 2.4 (historical data can be queried in the database).
Looking ahead, nickel sulphate supply is expected to remain tight overall in the near term, and nickel salt prices may still have upside room.
[For more content, subscribe to SMM Nickel Research Group products "China Nickel-Chrome-Stainless Steel Industry Chain Regular Report" and "China Nickel-Chrome-Stainless Steel Industry Chain High-End Report" to accessthe latest data analysis and market insights on nickel ore, NPI (China + Indonesia), refined nickel, nickel sulphate, chrome ore,ferrochrome, and stainless steel (China + Indonesia)!]
