Nickel Futures Hover Near Multi-Month Highs

Nickel futures traded above $18,750, hovering close to a more than three-month high of $18,775, with the market consolidating after a strong rally. The uptrend is underpinned by expectations of a tighter global balance, after the International Nickel Study Group projected a shift into a small market deficit in 2026, reversing this year’s surplus. The outlook reflects stronger demand growth relative to supply, supporting a firmer medium-term price tone. On the supply side, Indonesia continues to shape cost dynamics after revising its nickel ore benchmark pricing framework, lifting upstream cost floors by broadening input factors and raising base pricing assumptions. This has reinforced higher production costs and a firmer global cost curve. At the same time, pressures in Indonesia’s HPAL sector persist, with elevated input costs limiting processing flexibility for nickel intermediates used in battery materials, keeping supply tight in the near term.

Nickel futures rose to around $18,500 per tonne, marking a near three-month high as cost pressures and supply constraints tightened market conditions. Jakarta has delivered a series of tightening signals, most recently revising Indonesia’s nickel ore benchmark pricing formula. The new framework now includes additional metals such as iron, cobalt, and chromium, while also raising the corrective factor used to set minimum ore prices. This lifts the cost floor for upstream production, feeding through to higher input costs for smelters and strengthening the global nickel cost curve. At the same time, supply-side strain in Indonesia’s HPAL sector added to upward pressure. Sulphur prices have surged above $800 per tonne, prompting some processors to trim output of nickel intermediates used in battery materials, tightening near-term availability. Overall, steady battery demand and resilient industrial consumption have helped absorb supply concerns, keeping nickel supported at elevated levels.

Nickel increased to 17635.00 USD/T, the highest since March 2026. Over the past 4 weeks, Nickel gained 0.76%, and in the last 12 months, it increased 14.62%.