[SMM Analysis] Nickel Sulphate Trading Relatively Mediocre, Nickel Sulphate Prices Flat WoW

Nickel Sulphate Transactions Relatively Mediocre, Nickel Salt Prices Flat WoW  

As of Thursday this week, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index stood at 28,401 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 28,450-28,650 yuan/mt; the average price was flat WoW.

Demand side, approaching the month-end procurement period, some downstream producers began inquiring about raw materials for the next month. However, as some producers had accumulated certain raw material inventory, their price acceptance did not see a significant improvement. Supply side, nickel salt smelters had largely sold out their spot cargo, and coupled with cost pressure from high-priced raw materials, this supported nickel salt quotations remaining at high levels.

Inventory side, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index rose from 3.9 days to 4.1 days, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index dropped from 7.7 days to 7.4 days; inventory levels for both buyers and sellers remained relatively low overall, with the integrated enterprise inventory index holding at 6.5 days. In terms of market strength, the upstream nickel salt smelter willingness to sell sentiment factor remained at 1.7 this week, while the downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor held at 3.1; some enterprises started inquiring about raw materials for the next month, but the transaction sentiment did not show a noticeable increase compared to last week, with the integrated enterprise sentiment factor maintaining at 2.7. (Historical data available in the database.)