[SMM Analysis] Nickel Prices Pulled Back and Price Acceptance Declined, Nickel Salt Prices Fell This Week

Nickel Prices Pull Back and Price Acceptance Declines; Nickel Salt Prices Fell This Week

As of Thursday this week, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price stood at 32,614 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 32,000-33,500 yuan/mt. The average price pulled back WoW.

Demand side, as the Chinese New Year procurement period approaches, some producers have recent purchasing demand. However, due to nickel prices pulling back from the unilateral rise earlier this month, downstream acceptance of nickel salt prices declined. Supply side, producers still have concerns about rising raw material costs, and some producers maintain a strong willingness to hold prices firm. The volume of nickel sulphate available for external sale in the market is relatively limited. Looking ahead, the current nickel sulphate price movement mainly follows cost logic, and subsequent nickel price trends still require attention.

Inventory side, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index decreased from 5 days to 4.8 days, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index dropped from 9.1 days to 9 days. Some downstream producers conducted restocking recently, and the integrated enterprise inventory index remained at 7.3 days. Buying/selling strength side, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor decreased from 2 to 1.9, the downstream precursor plant purchasing sentiment factor fell from 2.8 to 2.7, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor held steady at 2.4. (Historical data can be queried in the database.)