Spot terms for processing copper concentrates rose at an accelerated pace in the first week of October on improved concentrates availability, while smelters are well covered with contractual deliveries and miners are eager to sell more volumes via tender.
Fastmarkets' benchmark copper TC/RC index cif Asia Pacific rose to $54.1 per tonne/ 5.41 cents per lb on Friday October 4. The index, which tracks spot payment terms for copper raw materials, was at $51.1 per tonne/ 5.03 cents per lb a week ago.Several tenders for spot concentrates have been tabled in the past two weeks, with volumes of DeGrussa, Red Chris, Buenevista and Gibraltar material available.For clean, standard-grade concentrates, traders are offering at or above $45 per tonne/4.5 cents per lb, following smelters' bidding at higher levels."Smelters are quiet but miners are producing without a break, which changes the whole scenario....