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Aurubis says 2017 copper treatment charges are too low¡ªThe 18th China(Guangzhou)Int¡¯l Heat Treatment, Industrial Furnace Exhibition
11/22/2016 heat treatment expo-furnace expo |
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Aurubis, Europe''s biggest copper smelter said that its annual copper ore treatment and refining charges for 2017 reportedly agreed between Jiangxi Copper and Freeport McMoRan are "too low".
People familiar with the matter said that Freeport-McMoRan has agreed a 5% reduction in fees it will pay China''s biggest copper smelter Jiangxi Copper to process its concentrate for 2017. The deal could set a benchmark for the global copper industry.
The reported settlement between Jiangxi Copper and Freeport McMoRan for annual treatment and refining charges for 2017 is in our view too low and seems driven by unfounded short term sentiments.
Aurubis said that "It does not reflect our opinion about the fundamentals of a generally well supplied market featured by high mine production and it does not reflect the cost increases and the challenges in the by-products market that primary smelters are facing."
When mine production is high, mines and other concentrate owners have to compete to gain smelter capacity and so TC/RCs are likely to be strong.
Copper treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) are paid by miners and other concentrate owners to smelters to refine concentrate into metal and are a key part of the global copper industry''s earnings.
Freeport will pay 2017 TC/RCs of USD 92.50 per tonne and 9.25 cents per pound, Reuters reported on Thursday. The deal represents the second annual cut in a row and is down from USD 97.5 per tonne for term contracts this year as a surge in supply mostly from Peru begins to fade out.
¡ªThe
18th China(Guangzhou)Int¡¯l Heat Treatment, Industrial Furnace Exhibition
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