Copper fabricators in China and the wider Southeast Asian region continue to feel the pain of high copper prices on futures exchanges and a lack of new orderbooks, with some having already asked for a postponing of shipments of long-term copper cathodes, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Wednesday May 15

Recent weeks have seen a significant number of miners agreeing sales of copper concentrate to traders for one to four years of supply, Fastmarkets has learned

The copper market is facing a historical moment with Chinese smelters now paying premiums for raw material copper concentrate while selling their finished product at a discount, but participants point to easing concentrate demand in the second quarter as supportive for the market

The new tariffs on aluminium imports imposed by Mexico are affecting the light metal's supply chain, trade flows and premiums, sources told Fastmarkets during the week to Friday May 3.

The influential annual treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) benchmark that sets the price that smelters charge miners to process their copper concentrate could be at risk, according to multiple market sources, although most believe the system, or elements of it, will remain

Fastmarkets' initial low-carbon premium for nickel briquettes captured existing regional price differences, with growing awareness and legislative incentives indicating there is potential for a strong market to emerge

The Chilean government is pushing ahead with plans for a new copper smelter despite the global smelting crisis, Chile’s minister of mining, Aurora Williams told Fastmarkets, adding that the state will also play a key role in developing the country’s premium lithium assets

Just under two weeks ago, the chair of BHP made a phone call to his counterpart at mining peer Anglo American and set in motion a flurry of activity designed to create the largest copper producer in the world

Brazilian aluminium supply coming from Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA) is said to have tightened, helping to boost the P1020A ingot premium, market participants told Fastmarkets in the two weeks to Wednesday April 24

In anticipation of a tight market, copper concentrate traders have locked in 2025 volumes at notably low treatment charges, with deals being placed well below the long-term industry benchmarks