[SMM Analysis] Nickel Salt Prices Rose This Week as Month-End Procurement Period Arrived

Month-End Procurement Period Arrives, Nickel Salt Prices Rose This Week

As of Thursday this week, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index stood at 28,047 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, coupled with stockpiling for the National Day holiday, led to strong raw material procurement demand from some downstream producers, increasing their acceptance of nickel salt prices; Supply side, nickel salt smelters had limited spot supply, and high raw material costs exerted cost pressure, supporting nickel salt quotations to remain high. Looking ahead, with the arrival of the month-end procurement period and continued tight spot supply of nickel sulphate, nickel salt prices are expected to have further room to rise.

Inventory side, the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index remained at 4.5 days this week, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index dropped from 9.2 days to 8.9 days, with overall low inventory levels for both buyers and sellers; the integrated enterprise inventory index held at 6.2 days. In terms of market strength, trading sentiment improved at month-end, with the upstream nickel salt smelter's willingness to sell sentiment factor unchanged at 1.7 this week, the downstream precursor plant's procurement sentiment factor rising from 3.1 to 3.3, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor increasing from 2.9 to 3.0. (Historical data available in the database.)