SHANGHAI, June 10 (SMM) - China produced 105,000 mt of nickel sulphate, or 23,300 mt in Ni content in May 2022, up 7.6% on the month and 8.3% on the year. In May, the overall procurement demand in the market was still poor, and the increase in output was mainly because some plants recovered from the production reduction and some of them chose tolling manufacturing. Therefore, the comprehensive output increased. From the perspective of raw materials, nickel briquette (powder) accounted for about 18% of the total raw materials used in May, and the proportion of intermediate products and high-grade nickel matte increased to 59%. Imports of intermediate products and high-grade nickel matte increased significantly with the release of Indonesia's new capacity. It is expected that except for some rigid demand, the use of nickel briquette will still decline due to the poor cost effectiveness.

With the increase in the output of tolling manufacturers and integrated manufacturers, the output in June is expected to increase by 5.61% month-on-month and 3.88% year-on-year. The supply of raw materials continues to increase in June, and the production of nickel salt has improved compared with the previous period due to the fakk in raw material costs. In addition, with the demand for nickel salts from the precursor sector improving in June/July, the overall market supply will increase to a certain extent, but will still be low compared to that in March.

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