Intraday trading weakened from the previous trading day, with a trading volume of 160258 lots and an open interest of 53,384 lots, a decrease of 24,327 lots and an open interest of 1,597 lots from the previous trading day. This combination indicates that the long and short sides take the initiative to reduce their trades and tend to wait and see. Today's main Shanghai nickel contract fluctuated upward after the opening, rose to the highest point at the close, and finally rose and fell +1.96% on the day. Pure nickel: On April 18, Jinchuan premium was reported at 2200-2300 yuan/ton, with an average price of 2250 yuan/ton, an average price of 50 yuan/ton compared with the previous trading day, and a premium of -500 to -200 yuan/ton for Russian nickel, with an average price of -350 yuan/ton, and an average price of 50 yuan/ton compared with the previous trading day. Today's morning market was affected by the night market rally, and the spot market was affected by nickel prices and was fully stocked in the early stage, and today's transaction was overall light. Today's nickel bean price is 133,500-133,750 yuan/ton, an increase of 2,225 yuan/ton from the spot price of the previous trading day, and the price difference between nickel beans and nickel sulfate today is about 4,102 yuan/ton. (The price of nickel sulfate is 4102 yuan/ton higher than the price of nickel beans). Nickel sulfate: On April 18, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulfate index price was 30,275 yuan/ton, flat compared with the previous working day, and the price of battery-grade nickel sulfate was 30,100-30,500 yuan/ton, with an average price of 50 yuan/ton lower than the previous working day. At present, the activity of inquiries has picked up, and some precursor companies have begun to purchase raw materials in late April and May, and the transaction range is mainly low-average discount. Some salt mills in the market have traded at low prices, and the price range of nickel salt has widened. The low range is lowered, and the high range is temporarily stable. Ferronickel: On April 18, the average price of SMM8-12% high-nickel pig iron was 942.5 yuan/nickel point (ex-factory tax included), up 3.5 yuan/nickel point from the previous working day. On the supply side, in April, due to the high price of nickel ore, the nickel ore inventory of Indonesian ferronickel smelters maintained production, and the output was not significantly reduced, and the cost support was relatively strong. Domestically, due to the impact of profit inversion, some small and medium-sized enterprises have begun to suspend production, and the resumption time is still wait-and-see. Affected by the Russian nickel sanctions over the weekend, pure nickel and stainless steel disks fluctuated upward, but there is still a cycle for transmission to the entity, and the upstream quotations of ferronickel have risen due to the emotional impact. On the demand side, the current stainless steel price rebound upward revision cost inversion slightly repaired, in April still maintain a high schedule, raw material procurement is still in demand, this week steel mills have purchased ferronickel transactions, the transaction price is higher than before. To sum up, the rebound of stainless steel spot prices and the strong cost support of ferronickel are expected to be stable and strong in the short term.



