Lead concentrate spot treatment charges (TCs) continued to rise in November, with buy-side liquidity slim amid a still-shut arbitrage window for Chinese imports.
Refining charges (RCs) also remain high, around $1.20-1.30 per oz for material with high silver content. Lead concentrates with low silver content are trading with RCs at $1.50 or above.
Fastmarkets assessed the
lead spot concentrate TC, high silver, cif China at $170-185 per tonne on Friday November 29, up from $135-160 per tonne in the prior month, and the highest since June 2017.
The corresponding assessment for
lead spot concentrate TC, low silver, cif China rose to $160-180 per tonne from $125-145 per tonne in the same comparison.
"You have the Chinese market looking for really, really low silver and the European market looking for high silver but with penalties," a trading source told Fastmarkets.
Meanwhile, tender season is kicking off in South and...