China Nickel Price Today
Live China nickel price from the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), shown in US dollars and Chinese yuan per tonne.
per tonne
per tonne
¥ per $1
China Nickel Price (SHFE)
Shanghai Futures Exchange settlement in US dollars ($/tonne)
How China prices nickel
China is the largest nickel consumer, for stainless steel and increasingly EV batteries, and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) nickel contract is its domestic benchmark. SHFE quotes nickel in Chinese yuan per tonne; we convert it to US dollars so you can compare China's nickel price with the LME.
Why China's nickel price matters
Nickel's two big demand pools, stainless steel and lithium-ion battery cathodes, are both anchored in China. The rise of Indonesian supply and Chinese nickel-processing investment makes SHFE nickel one of the more volatile base-metal contracts.
Reading the chart in yuan and dollars
SHFE quotes nickel in Chinese yuan per tonne (¥/t). Use the currency toggle above the chart to switch between the native yuan price and the US-dollar equivalent, which we compute from the live USD/CNY exchange rate. Viewing both makes it easy to separate a real move in the nickel price from a move that is really just the yuan strengthening or weakening against the dollar. For warehouse inventory and settlement detail, see our SHFE nickel page.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is the China nickel price set?
- The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) nickel contract is China's domestic nickel benchmark, settled in Chinese yuan per tonne. We convert it to US dollars per tonne using the live USD/CNY rate for a direct comparison with the LME.
- Why is the China nickel price so volatile?
- Nickel serves two very different demand pools, stainless steel and EV battery cathodes, and supply is being reshaped by a flood of Indonesian production and Chinese processing investment. Those crosscurrents make SHFE nickel one of the more volatile base-metal contracts.
- What drives China's nickel demand?
- Stainless steel is still the largest use, but battery-grade nickel for electric vehicles is the fastest-growing. China is both the biggest stainless producer and the biggest EV market, so it sits at the center of nickel demand.
- How does the China nickel price compare with the LME?
- SHFE nickel and the LME price track global fundamentals but can diverge sharply on the import arbitrage, the class-1 versus nickel-pig-iron mix, and Indonesian supply news. The spread reflects domestic refined-nickel tightness.