Treatment charges (TCs) paid for zinc concentrates on the spot market declined in April, with Chinese smelters and traders actively acquiring tonnages at lower levels than before.
Fastmarkets monthly assessment for zinc concentrate spot TCs, cif Asia Pacific, was at $260-290 per tonne on April 26, down from $270-305 per tonne on March 29.The drop marks a break in the uptrend for sharply rising zinc TCs, which have surged since January 2018 and were at their highest level in over four years before declining.The increasing margins for smelting zinc is prompting spot market smelter buying, sources said.As well as TCs being in their favor, smelter balance sheets will also be buoyed by a second-wind of the London Metal Exchange zinc price rally, with the exchange's cash price trading at a 10-month high of $3,050 per tonne on April 16."Its fantastic business for zinc smelters, we haven't seen it so good in a long time for them," a mining source told Fastmarkets, adding, "Money talks and motivates, if you can buy close to $300 per tonne [then] for...