[SMM Analysis] Nickel Prices Rose, Driving Up Immediate Costs, and Nickel Salt Prices Rebounded This Week

Nickel Prices Rose, Pushing Up Spot Costs; Nickel Salt Prices Rebounded This Week

As of Thursday this week, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,136 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 27,420-27,530 yuan/mt. The average price slightly rebounded WoW.

Demand side, approaching the month-end, some producers started inquiries this week. However, as overall downstream demand entered the off-season, coupled with some producers' tendency to control inventory at year-end, the increase in price acceptance was not significant. Supply side, some producers had a strong willingness to hold prices firm due to the rise in spot costs driven by nickel prices. Looking ahead, demand is expected to pull back this month, continuing to exert pressure on nickel salt prices, but attention should be paid to the impact of nickel price trends on nickel salt costs.

Inventory side, the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index remained at 4.9 days this week, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index decreased from 8.3 days to 7.9 days. Downstream destocking is expected to dominate this month, with the integrated enterprise inventory index maintaining at 7.3 days. Buying and selling strength side, the upstream nickel salt smelter willingness to sell sentiment factor rose from 1.8 to 1.9 this week, and the downstream precursor plant purchasing sentiment factor increased from 2.6 to 2.8. Trading sentiment rebounded towards the month-end, with the integrated enterprise sentiment factor remaining at 2.6. (Historical data can be queried in the database.)