April 7 (Reuters) -
* Chilean miner Antofagasta PLC has sold 10,000
tonnes of
copper concentrate for June shipment at treatment and refining
charges (TC/RCs) of about $10 a tonne and one cent a pound,
three sources with knowledge of the deal said.
* The very low rate sale - done via a tender last week -
comes as
disruption to mine supply globally puts pressure on TC/RCs,
which are paid by miners to process copper concentrate into
refined metal.
* The concentrate from Antofagasta's Centinela mine was
bought by
a trading firm, said the sources, declining to be named due to
commercial sensitivity; another 20,000 tonnes for May was sold
at TCs in the mid-teens, two of the sources said.
* Antofagasta declined to comment.
* Spot TCs in top copper consumer China <AM-CN-CUCONC>,
which fall
when the market tightens and smelters have to accept lower terms
to ensure they have enough feedstock, are currently at their
lowest in a decade.
(Reporting by Tom Daly and Zandi Shabalala; editing by Jason
Neely)
Antofagasta (ANTO)
