Price Performance: Last week, nickel sulphate prices rebounded, with the transaction range between 31,000-31,500 yuan/mt.

Refined cobalt prices rose slightly and then decreased in the week ending March 21. Production remains steady, but low smelter inventories lead to a tight supply situation. Demand in the usual high-demand season of March and April is delayed, with few market transactions, mainly driven by deliveries to the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration. Market dynamics were initially unsettled due to a production issue but stabilized after a quick resolution, normalizing spot prices.

Firstly, global NPI capacity and output, which show a gradual increasing trend in the future. Although，in the past，Indonesia had restrictive new production lines, but for declared production lines can be continue. Second, although NPI balance expected to be in a large surplus, the actual surplus may not be as large as expected, the main reason is that when a commodity is excess, the company will Slowdown the production.

SMM will be holding our FREE webinar “Unveiling the Shifting Dynamics of the Global Nickel Market: Insights from Indonesia's Conference and Beyond” at 4-5 PM, Wednesday, 13th March 2024 (Beijing time).

High nickel matte will increase the volume fast, and MHP will increase the volume fast as well in the future

As NPI is the main raw material of 300-series stainless steel, the fluctuation of the stainless steel market is normally closely related to the change of price for nickel, which is produced with traditional pyrometallurgy.