Smelters are likely to charge higher fees for copper

So far, the protests in Chile have probably had no influence on the local mining industry. Chile is the world's largest producer of copper, accounting for 5.8 million tonnes of nearly 30% of global mine production last year. Today, miners in the world's largest copper mine Escondida want to hold a one-day strike as a sign of solidarity with the protesters. Should the strike last longer, this should affect the copper market. The availability of copper concentrate has increased slightly in recent weeks. In the first half of the year, the global copper refinery market registered a deficit of 220 thousand tons. Therefore, the processing and refining charges (TC / RC) that require smelters for the processing of copper concentrate from the mine producers have also fallen massively. In China, where most smelting capacity is worldwide, they fell from $ 92 / tonne (TC) or 9.2 cents / pound (RC) in the first quarter to a seven-year low of $ 55 / 5.5 Cents in the third quarter. Now, the China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) has announced a 20% increase to $ 66 or 6.6 US cents thanks to higher availability of concentrate for the fourth quarter. The CSPT, whose membership is being expanded by two new members with a production capacity of 450,000 tons p.a., will enter into the traditional November talks on long-term benchmarks with mining producers. should now grow to 12, with a broad chest.

Source: Commerzbank Research, Photo: Fotolia