LME sees increased copper and nickel trading

Average daily volume (ADV) figures released by the London Metal Exchange (LME) for the first 11 months of 2025 indicate increased activity in trading against its nickel and copper contracts while volumes for aluminum have held steady compared with last year.

The LME primary aluminum contract will again be the exchange’s most active in 2025, based on ADV figures for the first 11 months, followed by the copper and zinc contracts.

Aluminum trading has stayed flat at more than 65.5 million lots traded so far in 2025, roughly matching last year’s 11-month total.

In the first 11 months of 2025, more than 40.3 million copper lots were traded, representing a 7.6 percent increase compared with the 37.5 million lots traded from January through November 2024.

The rebound of the LME nickel contract after its turbulent 2022 continues, based on ADV figures. More than 20.3 million lots were traded against the LME nickel contract in the first 11 months of 2025, a figure that rose by 25.7 percent compared with the 17.3 million lots traded during the same time frame in 2024.

The exchange also has seen a leap this year in trades against its cobalt contract. Whereas just 1,600 cobalt lots were traded from January through November of 2024, this year’s first 11 months witnessed more than 23,000 lots traded—a whopping 1,345 percent increase.

The LME’s steel scrap, rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) contracts, meanwhile, are struggling to gain momentum this year.

Its most active ferrous scrap contract, for Turkey-bound material, has fallen 32.7 percent from more than 1.1 million lots traded in the first 11 months of 2024 to about 776,000 in the same time frame this year.

In one attempt to build a rapport with the ferrous scrap and recycled-content steel sector, the LME has been hosting a Dockside Chat free-to-view webinar series for traders in those sectors.

An episode scheduled for Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, will be hosted by the LME’s Alberto Xodo and will feature panelists Atilla Widnell of Navigate Commodities, Rituparna Nath of S&P Global Platts and Phillip Price of Adelphi.

“You'll gain insights directly from the yards and loading docks, with up-to-date analysis of satellite data on steel mill utilization and trade flows, as well as the latest market chatter,” says LME.