Copper slips from record high as nickel touches 19-month peak

Copper eased from a record high on Wednesday as traders assessed whether a breathtaking early-year rally could be sustained, while nickel hit its highest in 19 months on expectations of lower supply from top miner Indonesia.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1% to $13,105 per metric ton in official open outcry activity after hitting an all-time high of $13,387.50 on Tuesday.

"Base metals are softer... as the bullish momentum that has powered the sector since late December pauses for breath," Neil Welsh, head of metals at Britannia Global Markets, said in a note.

"The market remains heavily driven by positioning and momentum amid lingering supply-chain risks and macro policy uncertainty in the United States."

Citi on Tuesday raised its first-quarter copper price target to $14,000, citing strong market momentum that has breached both the base and bullish case outlook in its December forecast. However, the bank kept its 2026 average forecast unchanged at $13,000.

"There appears to be a 'fear-of-missing-out' action in the market and quite frankly a frenzy towards copper that we view as unsustainable," Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals analyst at Stonex, said in a note.

Nickel, meanwhile, was up 0.6% at $18,625 a ton, after touching $18,800, its highest since June 5, 2024. The metal used to make stainless steel has gained around 30% since mid-December.

Indonesia's plans to curb production have added a strong supply-risk premium but fundamentals still show a market in surplus, Welsh said.

LME nickel stocks <MNISTX-TOTAL> climbed to 275,634 tons, the highest since June 2018, after 20,760 tons of inflows, mostly in Kaohsiung, while the discount of the cash LME nickel contract over the three-month forward <CMNI0-3> widened to $202 a ton on Tuesday, implying no pressing need for near-term metal.

One entity currently holds between 30% and 40% of LME nickel warrants, exchange data show <0#LME-WHT>.

Aluminium dropped 0.5% to $3,112 a ton, zinc slipped 1.4% to $3,207, lead lost 0.5% to $2,065 and tin dipped 0.1% to $44,475, having hit its highest since March 2022 earlier in the session.