Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) jumped up sharply in the first half of June after smelters overcame resistance from traders and miners to sell at higher levels.
Metal Bulletin's copper concentrates TC/RC index shot up by $3.40 per tonne / 0.34 cents per lb on Friday June 15 to its highest level since January, when the index normalization method was adjusted to include a counterparty factor. Sellers had resisted offering spot copper concentrates at TC/RCs over benchmark levels of $82.25/8.225 cents to smelters for two months after major Indian smelter Sterlite Copper was forced to close its Tuticorin plant and declare force majeure on supply contracts at the end of May. But a flurry of direct deals reported to Metal Bulletin at $84-86/8.4-8.6 cents indicates that smelters in China are now buying spot parcels at a higher level, with deals also heard as high as $89/8.9 cents. "Not everyone is in a position to hold out [on the sell side] for a long time and some are now selling into the...