[SMM Analysis] Market Transactions Were Scarce Before the Holiday, Nickel Salt Prices Fell This Week

Sparse pre-holiday trading drags nickel salt prices lower this week

As of Thursday this week, the SMM average price of battery-grade nickel sulphate declined.

Demand side, with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, enterprises maintaining operations had largely stocked up on raw materials before the holiday. New raw material shipments were about to be disrupted, and downstream players broadly suspended spot purchases, showing low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Supply side, some upstream enterprises held elevated inventory levels and planned to cut operating rates to sell down stocks, though the overall scale of production cuts remained smaller than the expected demand reduction. Looking ahead, the market is expected to remain in a weak supply-demand balance in the short term, with destocking as the main theme and prices likely to stay under pressure overall.

Inventory side, the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index held at 8 days this week, while the downstream precursor plant inventory index fell from 11.9 days to 11.6 days, and the integrated enterprise inventory index held at 9.8 days. On buying and selling strength, the upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor held at 2.1 this week, the downstream precursor plant purchasing sentiment factor held at 2.1, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor held at 2.2. (Historical data can be accessed via the database)
 

Nickel prices strengthen, lifting nickel salt costs

Cost side, MHP raw material supply remained relatively ample, and combined with weak acceptance from downstream salt smelters, MHP payables weakened further this week. On nickel prices, some production cuts in Indonesian nickel pig iron stimulated a rebound in nickel prices. For the week overall, nickel prices strengthened while MHP payables stayed soft, and spot production costs for nickel salt rebounded WoW.