SMM Nickel Market Morning Comment (Mar 1)

Overnight, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract opened at 134500 yuan/mt, and closed at 137710 yuan/mt, up 3420 yuan/mt. Trading volume increased by 98663 lots, and open interest increased by 14552 lots. From a macro perspective, although RKAB’s review speed has been accelerated, there are still a large number of mining quotas that have not yet been approved. From a fundamentals point of view, recent high nickel prices have dampened downstream buying appetite.