Sentiment around base metals miners has "prevaricated" in recent times according to the research team at Bell Potter, however they've dug up two companies which they believe represent good buying at current levels.
Base metals have for much of the year played second fiddle to hot stocks in the resources sector such as rare earths, lithium and gold, with Bell Potter saying the market has been impacted by "the potential impact (or not) of global trade tariffs on economic growth and hence metal consumption''.
There is one metal about which analysts agree, however, as Bell Potter says:
In respect to copper, we remain cognisant of a tight supply-demand balance in the copper market and the sector's capacity to provide a supply response in the face of significantly stronger forecast demand. This is predicated on copper's base industrial demand with growth coming from exposure to the renewable energy/ electrification theme, electric vehicle uptake and new demand sources such as from data centres and AI. In our view, any opportunity to add production exposure amidst weak sentiment is an excellent buying opportunity.
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Copper stock to watch
On the ASX, which is not short of copper exposure, the team at Bell Potter have singled out Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX: AIS) as a company worth looking at.
As they say:
Aeris Resources represents a copper dominant mining exposure whose primary assets are the Tritton Copper Operations in NSW and the Cracow Gold Mine in Queensland. Its near-term outlook is highly leveraged to rising copper grades and production at the Tritton copper mine.
This is underpinned by the company's plans to ramp up open pit mining in 2026, Bell Potter says, which they expect will drive margin expansion "into a rising copper price".
Bell Potter has a price target of 65 cents on Aeris shares compared with 52 cents currently, with Aeris valued at $586.1 million overall.
In other base metals the Bell Potter team like Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC).
As they said:
Nickel Industries operations are located in Indonesia and are long-life, bottom-of-the-cost-curve projects. In 1HCY26 we anticipate the delivery of major positive growth catalysts. These include ore production ramp up to a 19Mtpa run-rate (pending permits) at the Hengjaya Mine and the commissioning of the ENC HPAL project for ramp-up to full production of +70ktpa in1HCY26.
The analyst team expect these developments to increase production, margins and earnings for the company.
Bell Potter has a price target of $1.20 on Nickel Industries shares compared with 74.2 cents currently.
