On October 10, SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 28,104 yuan/mt, up 71 yuan/mt from the previous day. Battery-grade nickel sulphate prices ranged from 27,920 to 28,370 yuan/mt, with an average increase of 70 yuan/mt from the previous day.
Supply side, most nickel salt smelters currently have low finished product inventories, and LME nickel prices continued to rise during the National Day holiday. Therefore, post-holiday price support sentiment further increased, with most smelters quoting at 98% percentage payables to low-end prices. Demand side, after the National Day holiday, the early September restocking by downstream enterprises depleted October demand for nickel salt. Thus, yesterday's market inquiries and transactions were less active, with most companies remaining cautious and showing weak acceptance of high-priced nickel salt. The mainstream transaction percentage payables remained around 98%, although some companies accepted high-priced nickel salt due to temporary restocking needs, but the trading volume was not large. Cost side, recent LME nickel prices have been fluctuating upward due to macro factors such as the US interest rate cut, providing strong cost support. Most nickel salt smelters have already experienced losses. Considering the expectation of continued strong nickel prices, nickel salt prices are expected to rise due to smelters' losses. However, due to weak downstream demand and unstable post-holiday futures market, the expected increase is limited.
