[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] August 28: Sluggish Spot-Order Market Transactions; Nickel Sulphate Prices Declined

Published: Aug 28, 2026 15:30

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On August 28, the SMM average price of battery-grade nickel sulphate declined.

Cost side, macro disruptions combined with relatively weak underlying demand, nickel prices weakened today, and the spot production cost of nickel sulphate declined; supply side, as costs remained at high levels, some producers were willing to hold prices firm, while some producers also had relatively high inventory levels and sought to sell and destock; demand side, as the month-end procurement period approached, some enterprises began to inquire about prices, but some downstream enterprises still mainly relied on long-term contract supply, with weak sentiment for building inventory via spot orders and relatively low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Today, the upstream nickel salt smelter’s Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor was 2.0, the downstream precursor plant’s purchasing sentiment factor was 2.3, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor was 2.3 (historical data can be queried by logging into the database).

Looking ahead, in the short term, spot order market activity was relatively weak, and nickel sulphate prices were under pressure overall.

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