[SMM Analysis] This week, nickel salt prices rose slightly as the supply of nickel salt remained tight, and further increases are expected in the future market.

This week, nickel salt prices rose slightly, and nickel salt supply remained tight.

As of today, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price stood at 26,411 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate between 26,030-26,950 yuan/mt. The average price rose slightly WoW.

Demand side, most precursor plants have completed their January restocking, while a few enterprises still have restocking needs. Market trading volume was relatively limited, and overall trading activity remained at a low level. Supply side, the market circulation of nickel salt further tightened, and the days of finished product inventories at nickel sulphate plants remained low. Some nickel salt smelters with cost inventories have suspended shipments due to current losses. The tight supply situation and losses further boosted the sentiment of nickel sulphate producers to stand firm on quotes.

In the short term, given the tight market supply, nickel sulphate prices are expected to continue rising.

This week, the cost support for nickel sulphate expanded.

Cost side, the MHP market was relatively quiet this week, with coefficients remaining stable. Due to the high cost of high-grade nickel matte, upstream producers lacked motivation to make concessions, keeping coefficients stable for now.

This week, LME nickel prices rebounded, driven by macro policies in Indonesia, leading to an overall increase in nickel sulphate production costs. Currently, nickel salt smelters using mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and yellow residue to produce nickel sulphate are facing losses, while those using high-grade nickel matte have relatively small profit margins. Specifically, spot profits on Thursday showed that the profit margin for producing nickel sulphate using yellow residue was -2.4%, using MHP was -1.9%, and using high-grade nickel matte was 1.3%.

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