Nickel Daily: Social inventories of refined nickel in China continue to accumulate, keeping spot pressure high

Source: Mysteel Jun 01, 2026 09:07

Last week, nickel prices traded in a range with a weaker bias. At the beginning of the week, heightened expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes and a stronger US dollar index weighed on the non-ferrous metals sector, putting downward pressure on nickel prices. Midweek, Philippine nickel ore prices stabilized, but sea freight rates edged up. Meanwhile, as Indonesia's DSI export control policy was about to enter a transition period, market sentiment turned cautious, and nickel prices traded in a low-level range. For the week, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract traded in a range of Yuan 140,110-145,410/tonne.On the nickel ore front, medium-to-high grade nickel ore prices in the Philippines held steady overall last week. The CIF transaction price for 1.3% grade stood in the range of US $48-50/wmt. Sea freight rates rose slightly by US $0.5/wmt, lifting landed costs modestly.

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