Miners are once again likely to secure a reduction in zinc treatment charges (TCs) for 2018, although perhaps not by as much as their initial offers to smelters would suggest.
With the annual TCs negotiations underway at the International Zinc Association (IZA) meeting in the US state of California, consensus among participants is that the range for negotiations is between $140 and $155 per tonne.Miner efforts in earlier talks to almost halve TCs - the fees mining companies pay smelters to have their semi-processed ore, or concentrates, turned into metal - reflect a still tight concentrates market and questions over the viability and timing of future mine supply. Industry sources told Metal Bulletin recently that offers had already been made to smelters for a price of $90 per tonne for 2018 compared with $172 per tonne agreed between Teck Resources and Korea Zinc last year. For their part, smelters have countered with an increase in the annual TCs for 2018 of as high as $220 per tonne. Changing terms There is still work to be done to agree on a...