Codelco’s copper premium contract talks ongoing, chairman says: LME Week

According to Maximo Pacheco, no premium number will be forthcoming this week and talks will continue in the coming weeks.

“We are going to come with our own decision in the coming weeks and we are in negotiations with our customers. But we will not have a number this week,” he said in an interview during the annual London Metal Exchange industry week.

Last year, Codelco offered a premium of $234 per tonne to European customers for its 2024 copper cathode contractual supplies.

This was the same as its offer for 2023 supplies and an 80% jump from 2022 contracts.

European copper company Aurubis recently settled its 2025 European contract offer at $228 per tonne, unchanged for the third consecutive year.

“The US copper market is super strong, it’s been strong for some time now, with a rebound tied to restocking and improved consumer demand. Europe has been a little bit weaker, but we haven’t seen any cuts in orders,” he said.

Fastmarkets assessed the copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US at 11-13 cents per lb on Tuesday October 1, unchanged since July 23.

Fastmarkets’ fortnightly assessment of the copper grade A cathode premium, delivered Germany was $170-190 per tonne on Tuesday October 1, unchanged from the prior week.

Pacheco meanwhile said that China’s recent stimulus package was putting money in domestic consumers’ pockets and would encourage growth in consumption. Recent signs of falling copper inventories and strengthening physical premiums were also a move in the right direction, he noted.

“We are seeing a growing rebound in Chinese demand. I think it’s important to take into account that Chinese copper consumption last year grew significantly, roughly 6-7%, so any percentage is on a relatively high basis of comparison,” Pacheco said.

“While people were probably hoping for better numbers, we’ve still seen around 3% demand growth so far this year. So we are confident that through the rest of the year, Chinese consumption should follow an upward trajectory,” he added.

Fastmarkets assessed the daily benchmark copper grade A cathode premium, cif Shanghai at $55-68 per tonne on Wednesday October 2, unchanged from the previous assessment. 

In Hotter Commodities, special correspondent Andrea Hotter covers some of the biggest stories impacting the natural resources sector. Sign up today to receive Andrea’s content as it is published.