[SMM Analysis] Market Transactions Were Sluggish This Week, Nickel Salt Prices Edged Down Slightly

Published: Jun 4, 2026 10:57

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

Demand side, at the beginning of the month, coupled with the approaching mid-year reports, some downstream purchasing sentiment pulled back, with relatively weak acceptance of nickel salt prices. Supply side, as current MHP payables and auxiliary material prices remained high, some producers had relatively high spot costs, and nickel salt quotations stayed high. Looking ahead, the tight supply expectations for nickel sulphate raw materials have not yet improved, and attention should be paid to the cost support from nickel prices and intermediate products for nickel salt prices.

Inventory, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index rose from 7.9 days to 8.9 days, the downstream precursor plant inventory index rose from 9.5 days to 12.1 days, and the integrated enterprise inventory index remained at 6.8 days. In terms of buying and selling strength, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor remained at 2, the downstream precursor plant purchasing sentiment factor decreased from 2.7 to 2.6, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor remained at 2.4. (Historical data can be accessed by logging into the database.)

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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