[SMM Analysis] Nickel Salt Prices Hold Steady with Relatively Sluggish Trading on January 28

On January 28, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price stood at 32,884 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate between 32,300 and 34,250 yuan/mt, and the average price remained flat compared to the previous day.

Cost side, nickel prices continued to fluctuate amid macro sentiment support and policy disruptions in Indonesia. Nickel prices retreated again today, but the immediate production costs for nickel salt smelters remained elevated. Supply side, some nickel salt producers showed strong willingness to hold prices firm due to expectations of rising raw material costs. Demand side, as the Chinese New Year approaches, some producers have stocking demand for raw materials, while others that have already stocked up for the holiday are mainly adopting a wait-and-see stance amid highly volatile nickel prices, resulting in relatively sluggish market transactions. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 1.9, while the Purchasing Sentiment Factor for downstream precursor plants was 2.7, and the Sentiment Factor for integrated enterprises was 2.5 (historical data can be queried in the database).