On October 20, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 28,421 yuan/mt, and the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate was 28,450-28,650 yuan/mt, with the average price flat WoW.
Cost side, Sino-US trade friction and expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts continued to jointly impact the market, nickel prices edged down, and the immediate production cost for nickel salt smelters overall pulled back recently; Supply side, nickel salt smelters maintained low inventory levels, spot order availability in the market was limited, coupled with raw material cost pressure, which strongly supported smelters' quotations; Demand side, approaching month-end, some producers' inquiry sentiment rose, and price acceptance increased. Today, the Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor for upstream nickel salt smelters was 1.6, the Purchasing Sentiment Factor for downstream precursor plants was 3.1, and the Sentiment Factor for integrated enterprises was 2.7 (historical data available via database login).
Looking ahead, nickel sulphate supply is expected to remain generally tight, and nickel sulphate prices may still have upside room.
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