Month-End Procurement Period Arrived, Nickel Salt Prices Rose This Week
As of Friday, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index stood at 28,059 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 28,100-28,300 yuan/mt, and the average price rose further WoW.
Demand side, the month-end procurement period arrived, coupled with stockpiling for the National Day holiday, some downstream producers had substantial raw material procurement needs, and their acceptance of nickel salt prices increased; supply side, nickel salt smelters had limited spot supply, and high raw material cost pressure supported nickel salt quotations to remain high. Looking ahead, with the month-end procurement period arriving and spot nickel sulphate supply still tight, nickel salt prices are expected to have further room to rise.
Inventory side, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index remained at 4.5 days, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index fell from 9.2 days to 8.9 days; inventory levels for both buyers and sellers were generally low, and the integrated enterprise inventory index remained at 6.2 days; market strength side, trading sentiment rose at month-end, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter willingness to sell sentiment factor remained at 1.7, the downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor increased from 3.1 to 3.3, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor increased from 2.9 to 3.0. (Historical data available via database login)
Nickel Prices Slightly Declined This Week, Nickel Salt Production Costs Pulled Back Slightly
Cost side, MHP raw material market circulation was tight, and the MHP payable indicator remained high this week. Nickel prices side, after the US interest rate cut was implemented, nickel prices continued to be suppressed by fundamentals; although they rose mid-week driven by a copper-related event, they fell WoW by Friday. For the whole week, nickel prices were slightly lower WoW, while the MHP payable indicator remained high, resulting in a slight WoW decrease in the immediate production cost for nickel sulphate. As of Friday, the profit margins were -2.6% for using MHP, -1.2% for using crude slag, -2.5% for using nickel briquette, and 4.0% for using high-grade nickel matte.
