Major zinc smelter Nyrstar received zinc concentrate supply from Trafigura in 2018 with terms set at a quarter of that year's market benchmark, according to updated 2018 financial statements released by the company over the weekend.
Trading house Trafigura paid the smelter an average treatment charge of $37.20 per tonne for 2018 contracted volumes of 500,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates, a level substantially below the $147 per tonne agreed by Nyrstar and other smelters with miners as an annual benchmark. The contracted supply totaled 25-30% of Nyrstar's annual zinc concentrates feed. Terms were agreed in two tranches in October 2017 and August 2018, Nyrstar said. TCs for 2017 averaged $74 per tonne between the two parties, which was 43% of that year's benchmark. The supply contract between Nyrstar and Trafigura runs for five years ending in 2020. "I think this supports some of...