[SMM Analysis] Tight Spot Supply of Nickel Sulphate Drives Continuous Rise in Nickel Sulphate Prices

Spot Nickel Sulphate Supply Tightens, Nickel Salt Prices Continue to Rise

As of Friday, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index stood at 28,417 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 28,450-28,650 yuan/mt, and the average price rose further.

Demand side, the power market remained in the peak season, with mid-month transactions relatively reduced, but some downstream producers still had raw material procurement needs, and their acceptance of spot nickel salt prices increased; supply side, nickel salt smelters had limited spot order supply, coupled with high-cost raw material cost pressure, supporting the continued increase in nickel salt quotations.

Inventory side, this week, the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index dropped from 4.5 days to 3.9 days, the downstream precursor plant inventory index fell from 9.4 days to 8.4 days, with inventory levels for both buyers and sellers generally low, and the integrated enterprise inventory index remained at 6.8 days; buying and selling strength side, this week, the upstream nickel salt smelter's willingness to sell sentiment factor dropped from 1.5 to 1.6, as low finished product inventories led to a decline in selling sentiment, the downstream precursor plant's purchasing sentiment factor rose from 2.9 to 3.0, as some producers still had raw material procurement needs mid-month, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor dropped from 2.8 to 2.7. (Historical data can be queried in the database.)
 

LME Nickel Prices Pulled Back This Week, Nickel Salt Production Costs Slightly Decreased

Cost side, MHP raw material market circulation was tight, and the MHP payables remained high this week. Nickel prices side, Sino-US trade friction and expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts jointly impacted the market, and nickel prices pulled back WoW. Overall for the week, nickel prices declined WoW, while MHP payables remained high, leading to a slight decrease in the immediate production cost of nickel sulphate WoW. As of Friday, the profit margins were 0.1% for using MHP, 0.1% for using crude slag, -0.4% for using nickel briquette, and 6.5% for using high-grade nickel matte.