SMM Nickel Flash: High-Grade NPI Market Sentiment Rises, Long-Short Divergence Intensifies

Forecast for August 7–9: Typhoon Dolphin brought strong winds and rough seas to eastern China, prompting temporary port closures and marine operation suspensions across parts of Zhejiang, Fujian and Shanghai. For Philippine nickel ore shipments, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Ningde and Shanghai/Yangshan were among the key affected ports, with vessel arrivals, berthing and cargo discharge potentially delayed, while Lianyungang faced comparatively limited direct impact. As Dolphin weakens after landfall, port operations are expected to gradually resume as weather conditions improve, although accumulated vessel backlogs could continue to delay China-bound nickel ore shipments over the next several days. Overall, the impact is expected to be short term and logistics-driven, with delays to vessel movements and cargo discharge rather than any significant loss of physical nickel ore supply.

SMM Weekly Stainless Steel Futures Review — week of July 27 – July 31, 2026. Conflicting RKAB supplementary quota signals and a hawkish Fed swing the benchmark contract to a RMB 30/mt gain in the week of August 3–7.

[SMM Nickel Express] This week, the high-grade NPI market saw continued tug-of-war between supply-side price firming and demand-side caution. Coupled with repeated futures disturbances and gradually recovering supply, the industry lacked substantial positive drivers, and the market maintained a weak consolidation trend throughout.