[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] November 17th: Trading Relatively Sluggish Mid-Month, Nickel Salt Prices Slightly Decline

On November 17, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 28,199 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate between 28,280-28,480 yuan/mt; the average price edged down slightly compared to the previous day.

Cost side, the US Fed's hawkish signals suppressed market expectations for interest rate cuts, and the strengthening US dollar index continued to pressure LME nickel prices, leading to a further decline in the immediate production cost for nickel salt smelters. Supply side, nickel salt smelters maintained low inventory levels, and spot cargo circulation in the market was relatively tight. Coupled with cost pressure from raw materials, this provided some support to nickel salt smelters' quotations. However, as some producers planned to resume or ramp up production this month, and some enterprises showed a tendency to cut refined nickel production, there were certain expectations of looser raw material supply in the market. Demand side, the monthly procurement period had passed, downstream purchasing sentiment pulled back during the middle of the month, and price acceptance slightly decreased MoM. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 1.7, the Purchasing Sentiment Factor for downstream precursor plants was 2.7, and the Sentiment Factor for integrated enterprises was 2.7 (historical data is available by logging into the database).

Looking ahead, in the absence of significant demand growth from downstream sectors, rising nickel sulphate supply is expected to exert some pressure on prices. However, given strong support from raw material costs, the room for price declines is anticipated to be limited.

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