Although the price inversion between nickel sulphate and nickel briquettes has come to an end, a significant drop in the price of nickel sulphate has led to a shrinkage in the price difference between nickel sulphate and nickel briquettes, with the current premium standing at 473 yuan/mt. Due to the ramping up of the Huafei project, the current MHP supply tightness has been relieved to a certain extent. MHP prices remained high, with current discount coefficient maintained around 76-78%, and the processing fees was near 27,000 yuan/mt. With nickel prices at a low, the profit margin of nickel sulphate using high-grade nickel matte and MHP was positive, but tighter. The profit margins for high-grade nickel matte based production lines were at 4.0%, while that of MHP-based production lines were at 1.1%. Profit margins were at -4.2% for nickel briquettes and nickel powder based production lines.



