[SMM Nickel Midday Review] On January 6, the nonferrous metals sector saw a collective surge in bullish sentiment, with nickel prices rising by over 5,000 yuan/mt in a single day.

SMM Nickel January 6 News:

Macro and Market News:

(1) The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council held an enlarged meeting on January 4, emphasizing the need to better serve the construction of an agricultural powerhouse. It will focus on areas such as biobreeding, agricultural machinery, pesticides and fertilizers, and grain production, strengthening key core technology breakthroughs in agriculture and the efficient conversion and application of scientific and technological achievements, enhancing the supply security, innovation, sustainable development, and international resource market utilization capabilities of agriculture.

(2) The central bank released the liquidity injection situation for various tools in December, with a net injection of 5 billion yuan through government bond transactions, marking the third consecutive month of such operations.

Spot Market:

On January 6, the SMM #1 refined nickel price was 138,400-148,500 yuan/mt, with an average price of 143,450 yuan/mt, up 5,300 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The mainstream spot premiums for Jinchuan #1 refined nickel were quoted at 8,000-9,500 yuan/mt, with an average premium of 8,750 yuan/mt, up 1,350 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The quotation range for domestic mainstream brands of electrodeposited nickel spot premiums and discounts was -200-300 yuan/mt.

Futures Market:

The most-traded SHFE nickel 2602 contract saw a strong rally in nickel prices during the morning session, with a single-day increase of over 5,000 yuan/mt, touching 140,000 yuan/mt. The closing price for the morning session was 139,530 yuan/mt, with a gain of 3.93%.

On January 3, the sudden change in the US-Venezuela situation sparked concerns about the stability of global resource supplies, driving a significant rise in safe-haven assets like gold and silver. This sentiment quickly spread to the non-ferrous metals sector. Today, under the expectation of reduced supply from Indonesia and the resonance of sentiment in the non-ferrous metals market, nickel prices rose by more than 5,000 yuan/mt. In the short term, attention should be paid to the actual implementation of quota approvals in Indonesia, but the high inventory and weak demand fundamentals remain prominent, making future trends more contentious.