[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] January 19: Market Transactions Relatively Sluggish, Nickel Salt Prices Remain Stable

On January 19, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 33,400 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate between 32,700-34,500 yuan/mt; the average price was flat from the previous day.

Cost side, nickel prices continued to fluctuate amid a tug-of-war between fundamentals and expectations, but the immediate production cost for nickel salt remained high; Supply side, some nickel salt producers, affected by expectations of rising raw material costs, maintained a strong sentiment to hold prices firm; Demand side, due to significant volatility in nickel prices, some downstream producers adopted a wait-and-see approach, resulting in relatively weak transaction sentiment. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 2.0, the Purchasing Sentiment Factor for downstream precursor plants was 2.7, and the Sentiment Factor for integrated enterprises was 2.4 (historical data is available via database login).

Looking ahead, current nickel sulphate prices primarily follow a cost-driven logic; if nickel prices can continue to hold up well, they may provide cost support for nickel sulphate prices.

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