After pushing to fresh highs in early May, Chinese Nickel Pig Iron prices have begun retreating as every pillar that supported the late-April surge — refined nickel, stainless margins, and scrap economics — starts to weaken simultaneously.

The Nickel Pig Iron (NPI) market looks firm on the surface — but dig one layer deeper and two very different realities emerge for high-grade and low-grade material.

[SMM Nickel Flash] Supply side, the center of upstream offers continued to decline, with some traders continuously lowering their intended prices. Demand side, the market remained relatively sluggish, and the price spread between high- and low-grade NPI continued to widen. Overall, consumption was relatively weak, and high-grade NPI prices maintained a slight downward trend.

[SMM Daily Comment: Weak End-User Demand Weighed on Prices, High-Grade NPI Continued to Drop Slightly] April 8 — The SMM high-grade NPI upstream sentiment index stood at 2.74, up 0.02 MoM, while the high-grade NPI downstream sentiment index stood at 1.49, flat MoM.

SMM Analysis: National NPI Metal Content Declined by Approximately 2.25% MoM in March, Expected to Rise by Approximately 0.34% MoM in April. In March 2025, the national NPI production physical content increased by approximately 3.45% MoM, while the metal content decreased by approximately 2.25% MoM...

[SMM Analysis: National NPI Metal Content Down Approximately 8.24% MoM in February; March Metal Content Expected to Rise Approximately 0.97% MoM] In February 2025, the national NPI production (physical content) decreased approximately 11.38% MoM, while the metal content declined approximately 8.24% MoM...