[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] December 11th: Weak Procurement Sentiment, Slight Decline in Nickel Salt Prices

On December 11, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,206 yuan/mt. The quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate was 27,450-27,550 yuan/mt, with the average price slightly lower than yesterday.

Cost side, the US Fed interest rate cut landed, not exceeding market expectations, LME nickel prices were suppressed by fundamentals and declined, leading to a decrease in the immediate production cost of nickel salt; Supply side, the recent rebound in nickel prices and rising costs have inclined some producers to raise quotations, but due to market expectations of some raw material loosening, upstream price holding has not yet been seen transmitting to downstream acceptance; Demand side, as some producers still have raw material inventory, nickel salt procurement sentiment has been relatively sluggish recently, and transactions this month are expected to be scattered. Today, the upstream nickel salt smelter willingness to sell sentiment factor is 1.8, the downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor is 2.8, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor is 2.7 (historical data can be queried in the database).

Looking ahead, downstream demand pullback will exert some pressure on prices, but if nickel prices can rebound, it may provide some support to production costs and boost nickel sulphate prices.

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