After months of decline, the processing fees and refining fees (TC/RC) for copper concentrate purchased by Chinese smelters stabilized for the first time this week, as the latest meeting of the Copper Raw Materials Joint Negotiation Group (CSPT) led to a lack of trading activity in the spot market. The weekly Agence France-Presse (AFP) index of smelter purchases of TC for copper fell by 1.3 US dollars per ton and 0.13 cents per pound on September 24 compared to September 18. Market participants said that due to the reduced spot trading activity caused by the CSPT meeting, there was limited spot trading this week. The generally available purchase levels for smelters were maintained around -220 to -230 US dollars per ton, which was basically the same as last week, while the available purchase range for traders was still below -300 US dollars per ton.
The CSPT decided at its meeting on September 22 not to set the fourth-quarter guiding TC/RC levels. Market experts said that smelters face a dilemma when setting the benchmark levels. If a lower guiding TC/RC is set, it may weaken their bargaining position in the upcoming annual copper concentrate long-term contract negotiations; while if a higher level is set, it may increase the difficulty of purchasing spot copper concentrate. Due to the continuous impact of global mine production restrictions, the supply of copper concentrate remains tight, and China's copper concentrate imports in August decreased year-on-year. Customs data showed that China imported 2.5 million tons of copper concentrate in August, an increase of 5.4% month-on-month, but a decrease of 9.1% year-on-year. China Mining News: Chinese mining company Sinomine Resources launched copper concentrate production at the Kitumba copper mine in Zambia on September 21. The project is designed to produce 55,000 tons of copper concentrate and 33,000 tons of cathode copper per year. The supporting smelting project is expected to come on stream in the first quarter of 2027.
