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Informist, Wednesday, May 20, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of most base metals rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Wednesday on increasing supply concerns, according to analysts. The global aluminium market is seeing supply issues from West Asia because of the war in the region, while copper faces risks from both West Asia and Chile.

 

NICKEL contracts also rose as the Shanghai Metals Market reported that 10-15% of high-grade nickel pig iron capacity at the Weda Bay Industrial Park in Indonesia will be under maintenance in the coming months. "Indonesia has cut nickel ore mining quotas this year to help revive prices, and it makes up around half of global supply," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Research, said in a note.

 

Meanwhile, Chile's state COPPER commission, Cochilco, expects the country's production of the red metal to fall 2% to 5.3 million tonnes in 2026 because of lower ore grades, maintenance, and operational constraints.

 

However, the rise in copper prices was capped as high crude oil prices worried market participants about rising inflation and falling global economic growth. "Copper faced pressure from a stronger US dollar and rising Treasury yields, as persistent inflation risks linked to the Iran conflict reinforced expectations of tighter monetary conditions," Kotak Securities said in a report.

 

At 1857 IST, on the MCX, the May futures contract of:

--ALUMINIUM was at INR 385.85 a kg, up 0.4%
--Copper was at INR 1,346.65 a kg, up 0.7%
–-LEAD was steady at INR 202.10 a kg
–-ZINC was at INR 370.00 a kg, up 1.1%

 

The June futures contract of nickel was at INR 1,815.60 a kg, up 0.6%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 380.00-INR 390.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,335.00-INR 1,355.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 200.00-INR 204.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 380.00-INR 390.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,780.00-INR 1,840.00

 

End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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