Treatment charges (TCs) for zinc concentrates continued to rise sharply in November, hitting highs not seen since November 2015.
Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for spot zinc concentrate TCs, cif Asia Pacific, rose to $170-190 per tonne on November 30, the highest since November 2015 and up from $120-140 per tonne at the end of October.This is the biggest monthly move since Fastmarkets started pricing zinc concentrate TCs in 2014.In what has become a clear buyers' market, Chinese smelters, which have restricted throughput due to declining zinc prices, are holding off large-scale purchasing unless TCs are close to $200 per tonne. "You can't sell for love nor money in China at the moment," a trader said. Although the market is not particularly active, spot deals were reported to Fastmarkets with TCs ranging from $160 per tonne to $200 per tonne. Chinese smelters, who reduced capacity utilization amid zinc prices dropping below $2,400 per tonne in August, are yet to bring back any of the production that was cut despite higher TCs....