UPDATE 1: Aurubis’ European copper premium offered at four-year high

Germany's Aurubis has offered European customers a copper premium of $96 per tonne for 2019 contracts, a $10 per tonne increase on last year’s numbers, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets.

October 1, 2018

By Generic people page

Base metals Copper

Aurubis spokesman Malte Blombach confirmed its premium initially reported by Fastmarkets on Monday at 10:39am London time.

The offer forms the basis of Aurubis’ contracts with copper product customers as well as constituting a delivered cathode premium. At $96 per tonne, the premium is the highest since 2015 when it offered customers a $110 per tonne premium.

The move comes after Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco also increased its offer to European customers by $10 year on year with a $98 per tonne offer for 2019 supply.

Additional reporting by Julian Luk

[This article was updated to include confirmation of the premium offer from the company.]

What to read next

Fastmarkets to launch three new China copper scrap grades, increase frequency

Fastmarkets will increase the frequency of its two existing CIF China port copper scrap prices and add three new grades on Monday March 16.

March 16, 2026

·

By Fastmarkets pricing team

Copper coils up close

How Gulf port disruptions impact global base metal exports

Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.

March 13, 2026

·

By Viral Shah

Aluminum ingots

Middle East conflict might create supply constraints, raise in aluminium premiums in Mexico

The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.

March 12, 2026

·

By Leticia Simionato

Copper cathode

Lundin, BHP’s Vicuña project targets 395,000 tpy of copper concentrate from Argentina

Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.

March 10, 2026

·

By Julienne Raboca

Architecture, Building, Cityscape

Chinese lead smelters cautious on concentrates purchases amid silver price volatility

Chinese lead smelters turned more bearish on the procurement of raw materials in the week to Friday February 13, amid heightened price volatility in silver, which is often contained in lead ores as an important by-product and contributor to smelter profits, sources told Fastmarkets.

March 10, 2026

·

By Shiyue Zhao

A shipping tanker sailing through the Straight of Hormuz on a sunny day

Strait of Hormuz closure threatens 40,000 t/month copper cathode flows to Gulf as Jebel Ali blocked, Khor Fakkan and Fujairah near capacity

Roughly 40,000 tonnes per month of copper cathode that once flowed smoothly into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Jebel Ali had few options to reroute after the Strait of Hormuz officially closed on Monday March 2, with the only alternative entry points — Khor Fakkan and Fujairah — already straining under the weight of diverted cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.

March 5, 2026

·

By Julienne Raboca