Copper concentrate shortage in China26 Jan 2024 07:59
Chinese copper smelters propose output cuts amid tight concentrate supply – sources
07:44
BEIJING/HANOI, Jan 26 (Reuters) – China's top copper smelters on Friday proposed production cuts among themselves, sources said, as tight supplies of raw material pushed treatment charges to a multi-year low.
The China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT), a group of the country's top copper smelters, also proposed a floor level for treatment charges (TCs) – one of smelters' main sources of income – at $50 per metric ton, three sources said.
"This appears to have been an emergency meeting in response to the tight concentrate market which is seeing terms now as low as the $20s for sales to smelters," said analyst Craig Lang at CRU Group.
"The CSPT account for around 76% of China's copper smelter output, so any coordinated response to cut production would be expected to take some of the heat out of the concentrates market in the near term," Lang added.
Tighter concentrate supplies are due to disruptions such as the closure of First Quantum's Cobre mine in Panama and Anglo American cutting production guidance.
The scramble to secure supply has meant Chinese smelters have had to accept a cut in TCs, a fee for converting concentrate into refined copper. An index provided by pricing agency Shanghai Metals Market of imported copper concentrate fell by 33% this week to $27.94 per ton.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu in Beijing and Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Michael Perry) ((Siyi.Liu@thomsonreuters.com;)