<article><p class="lead">Production rose by 21pc from 2018, to 560,000t, showed data by the China non-ferrous metal industry association. </p><p>Nickel sulphate production grew at a slower rate in 2019, amid weak demand from the new energy vehicle (NEV) power battery sector.</p><p>A weaker power batteries market weighed on the nickel sulphate sector, as nickel sulphate is a key raw material of nickel-cobalt-manganese/nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCM/NCA) batteries.</p><p>Newly installed capacity of NCM/NCA batteries in 2019 was 40.5Gwh, up by 22.5pc from 2018, showed data from China's automotive manufacturers association.</p><p>Beijing in March 2019 announced cuts in NEV subsidies and set a three-month transition period from 26 March to 25 June. Domestic monthly NEV production and sales have fallen from July.</p><p><i>Argus</i> assessed nickel sulphate prices at 24,000-31,000 yuan/t ($3,485-4,502/t) ex-works today, down by Yn1,000/t from a week earlier.</p></article>
