Base metals
Overview
From vehicle lightweighting to increased demand for copper to wire our connected world, base metals are used widely in manufacturing industrial and consumer products, and demand is only going to increase. Base metals are the most connected to the futures market already so what does even more demand mean for commodity investments?
Argus provides base metals premiums in the most active trading regions around the world, in addition to data from the world’s metals exchanges on a real-time (additional fees apply) or 30-minute delay basis.
Base metals coverage
Argus delivers price data on over 300 base metals through the LME, CME and COMEX, as well as proprietary assessments. Our market news and analysis spans copper, aluminium, nickel, lead, tin, zinc and other base metals crucial to commercial and industrial enterprises.
Track premiums in the most active trade regions and use our daily analysis to better understand the link between the physical and paper markets to better navigate futures, options and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Investors that do take positions on the financial markets can use Argus tools to highlight arbitrage opportunities and receive alerts when prices reach upper and lower threshold limits on their contracts of interest.
Highlights of Argus global base metals coverage
- Value-added exchange data tools offer a deeper level of insight to the standard exchange feed windows (calculated derived cash, global view of all exchanges on a single screen, threshold alerts).
- Full suite of non-ferrous scrap prices can be analysed to detect correlations or leading indicators for base metals prices.
- Currency and unit of measure conversions allow easy comparison of exchange data in different regions of the world to identify arbitrage opportunities.
- Base metals workspaces facilitate an holistic view of each individual market’s performance.
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Browse the latest market moving news on the global base metals industry.
Floods disrupt Australian Cu, fertiliser exports
Floods disrupt Australian Cu, fertiliser exports
Sydney, 12 January (Argus) — Severe flooding in Queensland has crippled key transport routes, halting copper, zinc, and fertiliser exports from one of Australia's major mining hubs. Australia's Mount Isa rail line — which supports the transport of fertiliser, copper, and zinc — remains closed due to weather-related damaged following multiple floods in late December and January. Water levels along the line are slowly receding, and major recovery works are underway, Queensland Rail told Argus on 12 January. The operator first closed parts of the Mount Isa line on 29 December because of heavy rainfall. Weather-related road and rail disruptions have impacted global producer Glencore's ability to move copper concentrate to its Mount Isa smelter by road and rail, a spokesperson told Argus . The Mount Isa line has faced disruptions before. Three locomotives and a wagon carrying copper and zinc from Glencore's Mount Isa operations derailed on 5 December 2025, triggering a three-day shutdown. Queensland Rail also closed the line for 11 days in February 2025 due to severe flood-related damage following weeks of heavy rain. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Nickel prices hit 15-month high on robust sentiment
Nickel prices hit 15-month high on robust sentiment
Beijing, 7 January (Argus) — Nickel prices on trading exchange platforms hit new highs on 6 January, bolstered by robust sentiment on the back of macroeconomic developments and potential changes to Indonesia's mining plans. The London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel prices hit $18,045/t on 6 January, up by 7pc from a day earlier and exceeding $18,000/t for the first time in 15 months. Prices started to climb from $14,430/t on 17 December 2025, surging by 20pc on 6 January in just 12 trading days. Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) nickel prices hit their 8pc daily limit on 6 January as well. Nickel prices have been driven by rising copper prices. Copper prices surged above $13,000/t to hit a new high because financial investors were concerned over tight global availability of copper refined metal stemming from the US' capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro . The metals sector could continue on an uptrend if geopolitical tensions escalate further, driven by risk-averse sentiment. End-user demand is not the major driver for the nickel price surge, but the increase in nickel prices have boosted prices of nickel downstream products. Argus -assessed prices for stainless steel 304 2.0mm cold-rolled coil rose to 13,400-13,500 yuan/t ($1,914-1,929/t) on 7 January from Yn12,800-12,900/t ($1,829-1,843/t) on 18 December 2025. Demand strengthened slightly because end-users were concerned about further increases in stainless steel prices. A major Chinese stainless steel mill raised its ex-works prices by Yn100/t on 23 December 2025 and by Yn300/t on 5 January, reflecting a rise in production costs due to higher nickel prices. Most market participants expect the nickel price outlook in 2026 to be steady from 2025 because they do not anticipate significant changes in supply and demand fundamentals. The average nickel price was $15,349/t in 2025, down from $17,049/t in 2024 because of an increase in market supply, according to Argus data. But price upsides are possible this year, since major producer Indonesia may introduce policies that could reduce supply or increase production costs. Indonesia could also cut its nickel ore work plan and budget (RKAB) to 250mn t in 2026 from around 379mn t in 2025, market participants said. This potential cut comes despite expectations that Indonesian nickel ore consumption will increase to around 330mn wet metric tonnes (wmt) in 2026, up by 11pc from 2025, Argus' estimates show. Indonesia's trade ministry on 17 December also issued a ministerial regulation on procedures for setting the export benchmark price (HPE) and reference price (HR) for mining and metallic products. This has renewed market discussions that Indonesia may again explore the possibility of such tariffs, putting upward pressure on nickel prices. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Copper surges past $13,000/t as bull run gains pace
Copper surges past $13,000/t as bull run gains pace
London, 6 January (Argus) — London Metal Exchange (LME) official copper prices surged past $13,000/t to reach a new record high today, as financial investors scrambled for safe-haven products in the aftermath of US military action in Venezuela. The latest buying poured fuel on an existing bull run in prices driven by concerns over tight global availability of refined metal owing to a renewed rise in shipments to the US. The three-month copper price closed at $13,230/t in the official morning session today, up by 3.04pc on the day and by 5.8pc since 2 January, the last session before the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro by US forces over the weekend. Copper prices were supported throughout 2025 by financial investors seeking alternatives to silver and gold in their flight to safe-haven assets because of heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The mini-spike in copper prices since 2 January is in line with similar movements in alternative safe-haven products, such as platinum group metals. Copper prices began to rise sharply at the tail end of last year, increasing by 13.9pc over 28 November-2 January. Prices were supported by central bank interest rate cuts and a renewed uptick in shipments to the US owing to speculation that the US administration under President Donald Trump would revisit its plans to impose tariffs on refined copper imports. Expectation that Trump would implement tariffs of 25-50pc drove a huge surge of shipments to the US in the first seven months of 2025, as trading firms sought to build up stockpiles of tariff-free copper. The pace of shipments slowed after the US decided in late July not to impose tariffs on copper cathode, but the arbitrage between copper contracts on the US Comex exchange and the LME did not drop off sufficiently to completely reverse the change in global trade flow towards the US. Speculation that Trump may decide to put tariffs on copper this year returned in the fourth quarter, causing US imports of refined copper to increase again. US trade data is lagging because of the country's government shutdown in October-November, but data from vessel-tracking service Kpler indicate refined copper shipments in December surged to their highest level since July. Volumes tracked by Kpler for December are on par with those recorded in May 2025, when the US imported 220,000t. Copper stored in Comex warehouses rose to 503,373t on 5 January, up by 95pc from the end of July. LME on-warrant warehouse stocks of copper recovered briefly in August-November following the US' tariff reprieve, but stocks have fallen again, reaching 114,200t on 6 January, down by 27pc from 2 December. And critically, the LME recovery was slightly misleading in terms of diversity of supply, as 95pc of on-warrant stocks held by the LME at the end of November were from China and Russia, which are not deliverable to Comex, the most recent LME country-of-origin data show. This Chinese-Russian share of LME on-warrant stocks is up from 73pc in November 2024, highlighting the extent to which the global backstop inventory of copper from other origins has evaporated. Copper supply concerns are not only being driven by the renewed flow of metal to the US. The latest uplift in prices was arguably sparked more directly by a 1 December announcement that Chinese copper smelters — which account for about 11mn t/yr of primary capacity — plan to cut their utilisation rates by at least 10pc this year, in response to negative copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs). And further signals have emerged that supply of copper concentrate to smelters will continue to be a major risk factor in the near term, most notably with the benchmark annual TC/RC settlement between major Chinese smelter Jiangxi Copper and Chilean mining firm Antofagasta concluding at $0/t and 0.0¢/lb, respectively, down from $21.25/t and 2.125¢/lb in 2025. The decrease reflects expectations among markets participants of a 650,000–850,000t copper concentrate supply shortfall in 2026. Tight supply of refined metal and concentrate and the attention of financial investors on the copper market will remain the key support struts for copper prices going forward. Physical consumer demand has not been a major driver of the recent price surge. The two lauded drivers of copper demand — energy transition applications and data centres serving the artificial intelligence boom — are expected to fully kick in through the latter years of this decade. But it appears likely that the longer-term bull case for copper demand is feeding back into positive price sentiment whenever short-term issues intensify on the supply side, which may see the floor for any downward correction tick upwards through each new spike. By Ronan Murphy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia backs Viridis’ Brazilian rare earth project
Australia backs Viridis’ Brazilian rare earth project
Sydney, 6 January (Argus) — Australian government funder Export Finance Australia (EFA) intends to open a $50mn debt facility to help Australian developer Viridis develop its Colossus rare earth project in Brazil, joining French, Canadian, and Brazilian state-owned investors. EFA has issued a non-binding, conditional letter of support for the debt package, Viridis told investors on 6 January. The Australian agency's support is subject to due diligence, approvals, and the use of some Australian goods and services, Viridis added. Viridis plans to mine a range of rare earths including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium at Colossus, using ionic clay deposits. It increased its estimated Colossus rare earth ore reserve from 98.5mn t to 200mn in August 2025. Viridis aims to make a final investment decision on the project in July-December 2026, it said today. Multiple global export agencies have backed Colossus. Canadian financing agency Export Development Canada and French state-owned funder Bpifrance expressed interest in funding Colossus in November 2025. Brazil's state-run National Bank for Economic and Social and Economic Development and Federal Agency for Funding Authority for Studies and Projects similarly agreed to partly fund Colossus in June 2025. Viridis also plans to develop a Brazilian rare earth refinery and magnet recycling plant with Australia's Ionic Rare Earths. Viridis will supply the refinery with rare earth carbonates from Colossus. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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