Spot copper concentrate TC/RCs down marginally ahead of Chinese holidays: LME Week

Spot trading in the copper concentrate market was inactive in the week to Friday September 29, with Chinese participants in holiday mode ahead of China’s weeklong break for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day (September 29-October 6)

Fastmarkets’ copper concentrates treatment charge (TC) index, cif Asia Pacific, was calculated at $87.70 per tonne on Friday, the lowest level since June.


Smelters’ buying level was mainly assessed at the low to mid $90s per tonne, but some participants saw the number below $90 per tonne, with more spot inquiries expected to come in.

Trader sources noted that Chinese smelters were showing increased interest in buying material. The increased demand was coming in part due to smelter expansions, one trader source said.

The trader added that this was leading to some increased buying interest among traders, noting they had seen some buying by traders potentially because they were short of material. One producer source also noted they had seen some traders buying to cover themselves.

The producer source also added that the gap between clean and both complex and blended concentrate was quite wide at the moment, and a number of sources have commented on this growing spread in recent weeks.

In addition, market focus has shifted to the upcoming LME Week in London, to be held during the second week of October. This also contributed to the quiet conditions in the market.

What to read next
Fastmarkets has launched MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonne on July 9 due to an expected increase in Indonesia-origin aluminium exports. MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonneQuality: P1020A or 99.7 % Minimum Al purity (Si 0.10% max, Fe 0.20% max) in line with LME specifications. Ingot, T-bar, sowQuantity: Min 500 tonnesLocation: FOB IndonesiaTiming: […]
To increase the transparency of our methodology, Fastmarkets clarifies that the quotation period of the MHP nickel payable indicator is the month of delivery, or the month M. Any data points Fastmarkets received otherwise will be normalized to the M month based on the monthly spreads of the prevailing exchange-traded Class-1 nickel reference price, or […]
Despite the current headwinds, strategic partnerships and continued investment in the right areas, coupled with the underlying strong long-term demand fundamentals, will pave the way for success for lithium producers, according to the participants of the executive panel during the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference, which took place from June 23-26 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The US and Europe must adopt long-term, consistent policies and should learn lessons from China, according to lithium industry experts speaking at Fastmarkets’ Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas, US, over June 22-25.
This consultation was done as an adhoc methodology review process, aiming to better reflect the physical market under indexation, considering its reduced liquidity linked to the combination of seasonal demand patterns and the implementation of cross-border import tariffs between the US and China. No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore Fastmarkets will […]
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for its MB-CO-0021 cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end), which was published incorrectly on Wednesday July 2 due to a reporter error.