The current weekly price assessment accepts data points on a CIF basis into all three countries, with major ports normalized. Fastmarkets is proposing to remove Chinese ports from this assessment, collecting data only related to the Japanese and South Korean import markets.
Following the rise in production of nickel sulfate in China from intermediates such as mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and nickel matte significant price gaps have emerged between nickel sulfate produced in the Chinese market and other markets in East Asia, which still predominantly produce nickel sulfate via metal dissolution.
The proposed amendment to the specifications will allow Fastmarkets to better represent the value of nickel sulfate in the region.
Apart from the change to the locations and price names, the specifications will remain unchanged.
The consultation period for the proposed amendment starts from Tuesday April 25, and will end on Tuesday May 23. The amendments will then take place, subject to feedback, from Friday May 26.
The proposed new price names and specifications are as follows:
MB-NI-0246 – Nickel sulfate, cif Japan and Korea, $/tonne
Quality: Accepted by buyer for use in battery applications with chemical composition: Ni content, base 22.3% max, min 22%, cobalt 50ppm max
Quantity: Min 1 tonne
Location: CIF major ports Japan, South Korea (other ports normalized)
Timing: Within 60 days
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Weekly. Friday, 4pm London time
MB-NI-0247 – Nickel sulfate premium, cif Japan and Korea, $/tonne
Quality: Accepted by buyer for use in battery applications with chemical composition: Ni content, base 22.3% max, min 22%, cobalt 50ppm max
Quantity: Min 1 tonne
Location: CIF major ports Japan and Korea, on top of monthly average LME nickel cash price
Timing: Within 60 days
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Weekly. Friday, 4pm London time
To provide feedback on this cif nickel sulfate price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter please contact Callum Perry by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Callum Perry, re: Nickel sulfate cif CJK.”
To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.
