LONDON: Nickel rose for a fourth straight session on Wednesday after the world’s biggest nickel mine in Indonesia received a sharply reduced output quota for this year, while copper climbed to a one-week high in a broad base metals rally.
Benchmark three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange was up 2.5 percent to USD17,925 per metric ton in official open outcry activity. The metal used to make stainless steel and rechargeable batteries earlier jumped as much as 2.8 percent to USD17,980, its highest since January 30.
French miner Eramet on Wednesday said its PT Weda Bay Nickel venture with China’s Tsingshan and Indonesia’s PT Antam had received an initial production allowance of 12 million wet metric tons for 2026, down from 32 million wet tons for 2025. The venture will apply for an upward revision, it added.
After a prolonged period of depressed prices, nickel has gained around 22.6 percent over the past two months as Indonesia, the world’s biggest nickel producer, vows to reduce supply.
“It’s clear that Indonesia is realising its pricing power,” said WisdomTree commodity strategist Nitesh Shah, noting that the roughly 60 percent of global nickel production the Southeast Asian country controls made it “more powerful than OPEC” is in oil.
“It has recognised that it doesn’t need to overproduce to make decent revenue,” Shah added.
Even so, the International Nickel Study Group has forecast a 261,000 ton surplus this year, and the LME Futures Banding Report showed one entity has a short position on the February nickel contract accounting for 20 percent-29 percent of open interest.
The LME complex gained ground as the dollar softened, making greenback-priced commodities more affordable for investors using other currencies.
Copper was up 2.1 percent to USD13,383 a ton, breaking through resistance at USD13,225, noted broker Marex, which said the market was working on the assumption that downstream buyers would step in if prices fall.
Aluminium gained 1.1 percent to USD3,125, zinc added 1.5 percent to USD3,446, lead edged up 0.6 percent to USD1,985.50 and tin jumped 2.4 percent to USD50,450.
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