Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TCs/RCs) rose to ten-month highs in mid-July when miners began to sell tonnages at higher prices and smelters consolidated their purchasing with terms around $90 per tonne/$0.09 per lb.
The Metal Bulletin copper concentrates index jumped by $6.30/$0.63 to $86.10/$0.861, the highest level since October 2017.The volume of tonnages traded has reduced since traders and miners swamped the market with sales during June, but the price direction of TCs/RCs remains upward."Things have definitely become quieter since the beginning of last week. I haven't heard of a lot [of deals] transacted since the Chinese smelters had their meeting," a trader said on Thursday July 12.The CSPT alliance of state-backed Chinese copper smelters set an unofficial buying level of $90/$0.09 at a meeting in Manzhouli at the end of June.Spot copper concentrate deals to smelters reported to Metal Bulletin ranged from $88/$0.08 to $92/$0.092.Market sellers reported that August-September deals below that price were hard to find, but smelters reported offers for tonnages at prices as high as $95/$0.095.High-gold copper concentrates from Indonesia's Grasberg mine are being shopped around to smelters in...