宏观预期或仍摇摆，镍价区间震荡

1. Report Industry Investment Rating No relevant content provided. 2. Core Viewpoints of the Report - The market's expectation of the Fed's interest rate cut in September has dropped from around 95% to about 75%. The inflation pressure caused by tariffs is still greater than the pressure of the weakening labor market [3]. - Overseas nickel ore supply continues to be in a loose state, with the price of laterite nickel ore showing signs of softening. The price of ferronickel has stopped rising, and the consumption of downstream stainless steel is weak. The salt market remains popular, but the market's acceptance of price increases is poor. The trading volume in the pure nickel market has picked up [3]. - In the later stage, nickel prices will maintain a range - bound pattern and may be technically corrected. The uncertainty on the macro - front remains high, and the game between inflation pressure and the weakening labor market will continue. The traditional consumer market remains sluggish, and the new energy sector may improve, but it is difficult to determine whether the expectations can be realized. The supply side remains stable at a high level, and the fundamentals are unlikely to improve significantly [3][11]. 3. Summary According to Relevant Catalogs 3.1 Market Data Summary | Variety | 2025/8/22 | 2025/8/18 | Change | Unit | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | SHFE Nickel | 119610 | 120340 | -730 | Yuan/ton | | LME Nickel | 14929 | 15151 | -222 | US dollars/ton | | LME Inventory | 209748 | 211662 | -1914 | Tons | | SHFE Inventory | 22552 | 23051 | -499 | Tons | | Jinchuan Nickel Premium | 2600 | 2200 | 400 | Yuan/ton | | Russian Nickel Premium | 500 | 400 | 100 | Yuan/ton | | High - Nickel Pig Iron Average Price | 936 | 936 | 0 | Yuan/nickel point | | Stainless Steel Inventory | 88.3 | 87.8 | 0.50 | Tons | [5] 3.2 Market Review - Macro - level: As of August 16, the number of initial jobless claims in the US was 235,000, higher than the expected 225,000. The US manufacturing and service PMI in August were both better than expected. Fed officials' hawkish remarks led to a significant downward revision of the market's expectation of a Fed interest rate cut in September to around 75% [6]. - Nickel Ore: The FOB prices of 1.5% laterite nickel ore in the Philippines and Indonesia have declined. The expectation of a loose nickel ore supply remains unchanged, and Indonesian nickel iron plants generally expect the nickel ore price to decline further in late August [6]. - Pure Nickel: In July, the domestic monthly production capacity decreased slightly by 400 tons to 53,699 tons, while the smelter's production schedule increased slightly. The domestic export and import of electrolytic nickel both increased year - on - year. After the import window opened, the imported resources increased significantly, and the spot inventory remained relatively stable [7]. - Ferronickel: The price of high - nickel pig iron (10% - 12%) rose from 925.5 yuan/nickel point to 929 yuan/nickel point. In July, China's nickel pig iron production decreased slightly month - on - month. In June, the domestic nickel iron import increased significantly year - on - year, mainly from Indonesia. In July, Indonesia's nickel iron production increased year - on - year but decreased month - on - month. As of August 15, the nickel iron physical ton inventory decreased slightly but remained at a high level. The stainless - steel consumption is still sluggish, and the short - term ferronickel price may peak and then fluctuate around the cost line [8][9]. - Nickel Sulfate: The prices of battery - grade and electroplating - grade nickel sulfate increased. In July, the production of nickel sulfate metal increased both year - on - year and month - on - month. The production of ternary materials also increased. The upstream and downstream inventory days of nickel sulfate decreased. The market for nickel sulfate remains popular, but the terminal market's resistance to high - nickel salts suppresses price increases [9]. - New Energy: From August 1 to 17, the retail sales of the new - energy passenger vehicle market increased year - on - year and month - on - month, with a penetration rate of 58.0%. The growth rate of new - energy vehicle sales has slowed down in the first and middle ten days of August. The replacement subsidy funds have been allocated, but the implementation of local policies varies, and the demand - side expectation is moderately weak [10]. - Inventory: The current six - location social inventory of pure nickel decreased by 1,019 tons compared with the previous period. The SHFE inventory decreased by 499 tons, and the LME nickel inventory decreased by 1,914 tons. The total inventory of the two major global exchanges decreased by 2,413 tons [10]. 3.3 Industry News - Boqian New Materials' subsidiaries plan to invest in expanding the production of ultrafine nickel powder, with a planned construction period of 12 months and an additional annual production capacity of 600 tons each [12]. - Indonesia announced the second - phase nickel ore domestic trade benchmark price for August, which decreased by about 0.1% compared with the first - phase price [12]. - Centaurus Metals plans to make a final investment decision on its Brazilian nickel ore project in the first half of 2026, with an expected investment of $370 million and an annual production capacity of about 20,000 tons of nickel [12]. - Nimy Resources discovered a potential large - scale copper - nickel mineralization in Western Australia, which may strengthen the company's layout in the copper - nickel - PGE exploration field [12]. - Indonesia's nickel ore production from January to July 2025 was lower than the target, with a realization rate of only 69% [12]. - BHP cut its dividend to the lowest level since 2017 and plans to sell its idle Nickel West business [12]. 3.4 Relevant Charts The report provides charts on the trends of domestic and international nickel prices, spot premiums, LME 0 - 3 nickel premiums, nickel domestic - to - foreign ratios, nickel futures inventory, nickel ore port inventory, high - nickel iron prices, 300 - series stainless - steel prices, and stainless - steel inventory [14][16].