Price of 304 Cold rolled stainless Steel in Wuxi area on April 8, 2020

[SMM Nickel News Flash] The average price of SMM 10-12% high-grade NPI rose 7.7 yuan/nickel unit WoW to 1,093.1 yuan/nickel unit (ex-factory, tax included), while the average Indonesian NPI FOB index price rose 1.55 $/nickel unit WoW to 140.06 $/nickel unit. The high-grade NPI market this week exhibited a "dip-then-rally" trend. Market sentiment was weak at the beginning of the week, but with the release of Indonesia's new HPM policy and the continued rise in nickel prices, bullish sentiment quickly recovered, and the price center gradually shifted upward.

According to SMM's latest pricing, supported by tight international shipping capacity and rigid demand, the sulfur (CIF Indonesia) price range was $990-1,050/mt this week, up $60/mt WoW. Market sources indicated that only a few sellers were able to offer firm cargo quotations, while the remaining cargoes were still stranded within the Gulf. Currently, some sellers had raised their sulfur offers to the Indonesian market to $1,250-1,300/mt, but no actual transactions were concluded. Although unreleased cargoes within the Gulf were quoted at around $900/mt, negotiations between buyers and sellers were extremely difficult, and market trading was sluggish.

[SMM Nickel Flash] Supply side, nickel prices surged on the overnight futures, and the market unanimously raised quotes, with active sentiment from upstream to hold prices firm. Demand side, stainless steel futures also moved higher, but spot market prices in China remained suppressed by end-users, and steel mills currently had limited acceptance of NPI prices. Overall, the surge in nickel prices drove high-grade NPI prices stronger, but upside room may be limited under end-user suppression.