Dec 19 (Reuters) – Copper inched up on Friday to move within $25 of the record high after another bullish forecast by Goldman Sachs highlighted mine supply constraints.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5% at $11,837 in official open outcry activity. It hit a session-high of $11,928, within striking distance of the all-time peak of $11,952 recorded last week.
The metal, widely used in power, construction and manufacturing, is on course to add 3.4% this week and is up more than 35% in 2025.
“Copper remains our favorite long-run industrial metal because it faces unique mine supply constraints and structurally strong demand growth,” Goldman Sachs said in a note on Thursday, reiterating its $15,000 a ton forecast for 2035.
The dollar index edged up 0.3%, capping gains in the LME complex. A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
“It’s all about the supply story right now for copper,” said Thu Lan Nguyen, head of commodity research at Commerzbank. “We are not as bullish as other houses. We are saying that copper most likely will move towards $12,000 sustainably over the next month, but I think the air is getting thinner.”
Whereas high copper prices have incentivised more investment in mine production, depressed nickel prices have prompted top nickel miner Indonesia to cut output, she noted.
LME nickel rose for a third day and was up 0.9% at $14,770 a ton after Indonesia’s government proposed reducing nickel ore production by around one-third to 250 million tons next year.
Aluminium also added 0.9% to $2,943, climbing for a fourth day and hitting its highest since May 2022, after South32 said it would shut its Mozal smelter in March.
Still, Goldman said it expects copper to outperform aluminium in 2026 as China’s overseas push for critical metals boosts aluminium production.
Zinc edged up 0.2% to $3,070, lead added 1% to $1,983 and tin advanced 1.8% to $43,700, touching its highest since April 2022.
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Additional reporting by Dylan Duan in Shanghai and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Harikrishnan Nair, Sonia Cheema and Sahal Muhammed)
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