Spot copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TCs/RCs) firmed in the latter half of February after Chinese smelters returned to the market for March and April cargoes.
Fastmarkets calculated the copper concentrates TC/RC index at $74.3 per tonne/ 7.43 cents per lb as of February 28, up marginally from $74.20 per tonne/ 7.42 cents per lb for the first two weeks of February. TCs/RCs are the discount to the outright copper price paid to smelters for processing copper concentrate into refined metal. Market activity has picked up with multiple parcels of clean concentrates taken by Chinese smelters at terms ranging from the low to high $70s on limited stock due to earlier deferred purchases of contracted framework tonnages. One exception is a 10,000 tonne-parcel of clean concentrates sold to a major Chinese copper smelter at low $80s. The March cargo is accrued stock originally catered for production at Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin smelter which remains closed since last April 2018. In mid-February, the...