[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] July 9: Market Quiet at the Beginning of the Month, Nickel Salt Prices Decline

On July 9, the SMM average price for battery-grade nickel sulphate declined.

Cost side, nickel prices continued to face pressure from inventory overhang and macro expectations for interest rate hikes, with immediate production costs for nickel sulphate consolidating at lows. Supply side, the tight supply of intermediate products persisted, with MHP payables and prices of auxiliary materials such as sulphuric acid remaining high. Some nickel salt smelters held expectations for production cuts, while some enterprises released low-cost inventory. Demand side, due to a significant MoM drop in nickel prices and some inventory accumulation at downstream enterprises, downstream stockpiling sentiment was weak, with relatively low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Today, the upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor was 1.8, the downstream precursor plant Purchasing Willingness Sentiment Factor was 2.5, and the integrated enterprise Sentiment Factor was 2.4. (For historical data, please log into the database query system.)

Looking ahead, the stockpiling period for July is expected to be pushed back to the latter part of the month, with attention needed on the impact of nickel prices and intermediate products on cost support.

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