Platts proposes to launch daily nickel sulfate premium CIF Northeast Asia

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is proposing to launch a daily nickel sulfate premium CIF Northeast Asia assessment, effective Aug. 1.

The launch would complement Platts' existing battery-related nickel assessments, which include DDP China nickel sulfate, CIF North Asia mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and nickel sulfate premiums for Europe and the US.

This proposal is in response to growing interest from market participants in nickel sulfate premiums for Northeast Asia, given the focus on mid-nickel and high-nickel content nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery chemistries in the South Korean and Japanese markets.

The proposed addition would reflect a daily premium assessment over the prevailing exchange settlement. The calculated price would adopt the following formula: nickel sulfate premium CIF Northeast Asia plus London Metals Exchange (LME) official nickel cash price, multiplied by minimum nickel content of 22.3%.

The proposed assessment would have the following specifications:

Platts spot price assessments consider market information reported to Platts and published throughout the day, including firm bids and offers, transactions and indications, as well as any other data deemed relevant to the assessment process. Market information received before the 4:30 pm Singapore (0830 GMT) timestamp would be considered for the daily CIF Northeast Asia nickel sulfate premium assessments.

A full description of Platts assessments methodology can be found here: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/plattscontent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/platts-assessments-methodology-guide.pdf

The assessments would be published on pages MTL8888 and PMA8888 of Platts Nonferrous Metals Alert, Platts Metals Daily and in the Platts price database.

Platts invites feedback on this proposal to battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by July 24.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.