The spot copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index rose for the third week in a row on Friday September 20 after extra Grasberg tonnages were offered in the market amid limited smelter appetite, with the market viewing this as a potential turning point for spot terms ahead of annual benchmark negotiations.
Fastmarkets' benchmark copper TC/RC index cif Asia Pacific rose to $50.80 per tonne/ 5.08 cents per lb on Friday. The index tracking spot payment terms for copper raw materials was at $50.30 per tonne/ 5.03 cents per lb a week ago. In late August, the index reached $49.20 per tonne/ 4.92 cents per lb, the lowest level since it was launched in 2013, before rebounding in the past few weeks. Traders' buying terms were stable in the latest calculation, while a tender for concentrate from Atlas-owned Carmen mine is known to have been awarded at the mid-$30s with European payables. Some standard clean parcels were reported to be sold to smelters at a range of low-to-high $50s while some Cerro Verde and Grasberg tonnages were reported to be sold to Chinese smelters in the low $60s. Grasberg offers surge Multiple Asian smelters have received offers for parcels of copper concentrate from...