On December 3, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,287 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 27,490-27,630 yuan/mt; the average price declined compared to the previous day.
Cost side, the latest US economic data fell short of expectations, and recent expectations for interest rate cuts continued to heat up, driving a broad rise in nonferrous metal prices, leading to a rebound in the immediate production costs for nickel salt smelters. Supply side, some enterprises previously showed an inclination to shift refined nickel production to nickel sulphate, creating expectations of relatively loose raw material supply in the market. Coupled with the weakened cost support during the period of low nickel prices, nickel sulphate quotations softened. Demand side, as some producers still hold raw material inventory, purchasing sentiment for nickel sulphate remained relatively sluggish recently, and the month-end procurement period is expected to be delayed later this month. Today, the willingness to sell sentiment factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 1.8, the purchasing sentiment factor for downstream precursor plants was 2.9, 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 downstream, increased nickel sulphate supply will exert some pressure on prices. However, if nickel prices rebound further, it may provide some support to production costs and boost nickel sulphate prices.
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