On July 30, the SMM average price for battery-grade nickel sulphate remained stable.
Cost side, yesterday’s US Fed decision was in line with market expectations, nickel prices maintained a consolidation pattern, and recent spot production costs for nickel sulphate rebounded; supply side, the tight supply pattern for intermediate products persisted, with MHP payables and prices for auxiliary materials such as sulphuric acid remaining at high levels, leading to expectations for production cuts at some nickel salt smelters, and as nickel prices picked up, some enterprises showed a willingness to hold prices firm; demand side, although the month-end procurement period arrived, some downstream enterprises still had long-term contracts or inventory accumulated, so sentiment to build stockpiles through spot orders was weak, with relatively low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 1.8, the procurement sentiment factor for downstream precursor plants was 2.6, and the sentiment factor for integrated enterprises was 2.5 (historical data can be queried by logging into the database).
Looking ahead, as the month-end procurement period approaches, the market is expected to gradually become more active, and nickel sulphate prices may see some recovery.
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