METALS-Copper strides to record high and nickel leaps 10% on supply fears

By Tom Daly

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Copper soared to a record high while nickel jumped more than 10% to a 19-month peak on Tuesday as supply concerns fuelled gains in industrial metals.

Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.9% at $13,234 a metric ton at 1700 GMT, having earlier climbed by as much as 3.1% to a record $13,387.50. Nickel CMNI3, meanwhile, was up 9.2% at $18,570 after touching $18,785 for its highest since June 5, 2024.

Copper has already gained about 6.5% in 2026, crossing $13,000 for the first time on Monday. Nickel is up 30% since December 16.

"Copper's move above $13,000 is being driven by a growing imbalance between structurally tight supply and accelerating demand from electrification and data centre investment," said ING analyst Ewa Manthey. "Years of underinvestment and ongoing mine disruptions have left the market with little buffer."

A strike at Capstone Copper's CS.TO Mantoverde mine in Chile has renewed supply concerns, while China's Tongling Nonferrous 000630.SZ has reported a delay to the launch of its Ecuadorian mine's second phase.

Citigroup on Tuesday raised its bullish first-quarter copper price target to $14,000, from $12,000 previously, but left its base-case forecast for the remainder of the year unchanged at $13,000. "We are tactically bullish copper for the coming weeks," the bank said in a note.

Nickel's rapid climb comes as Indonesia, the world's biggest nickel miner, plans to cut ore output.

The move "is proving highly effective at lifting prices in the short term", Manthey said. "But with a sizeable surplus still expected in 2026, the rally is unlikely to last unless supply curbs deepen or demand meaningfully improves," she added.

Aluminium CMAL3 rose 1.6% to $3,135 a ton, touching its highest since April 2022, while zinc CMZN3 was up 1.8% at $3,252 after striking its highest since October 2024 and lead CMPB3 climbed 2.6% to $2,076.

Tin CMSN3 was also carried higher as markets were firmly in risk-on mode, rising 5.5% to $44,655 and notching its highest level since March 2022.