[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] July 3: Market Calm at Start of Month, Nickel Salt Prices Hold Steady

On July 3, the average price of SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate edged lower.

Cost side, last night’s US non-farm payrolls data came in below expectations, which to some extent eased market expectations for interest rate hikes. Nonferrous metals recovered somewhat, and the immediate production cost of nickel sulphate rebounded. Supply side, the tight supply of intermediate products remained unchanged, with MHP payables and auxiliary material prices such as sulphuric acid still at high levels. Nickel salt smelters maintained high quotes, but some enterprises released low-cost inventory. Demand side, as nickel prices had yet to stabilize noticeably, and some downstream enterprises had accumulated some inventory, downstream inventory building sentiment was weak, and acceptance of nickel salt prices was relatively low. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters is 1.8, the procurement sentiment factor for downstream precursor plants is 2.5, and the sentiment factor for integrated enterprises is 2.4 (historical data can be accessed by logging into the database).

Looking ahead, the stockpiling period in July is expected to be postponed to the latter half of the month. Attention should be paid to the impact of nickel prices and intermediate products on cost support.

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