TCs of Spot Copper Concentrate Trend lower in the Sluggish Market

SHANGHAI, Jan 16 (SMM) - As of Friday January 13, the SMM Imported Copper Concentrate Index (weekly) stood at $83.97/mt, $0.66/mt lower than the previous week. Spot copper concentrate trading was sluggish last week. According to SMM survey, 10,000 mt of mixed ore, which were scheduled to be shipped in February and March, were traded at TCs of $87-89/mt. Disturbances on the supply side put a certain pressure on the TCs, and the market witnessed a fall in TCs offered by buyers and sellers. Recently, some smelters have had some demand for clean concentrates which were scheduled to be shipped in February and offered the TCs of $81-85/mt. US Mission Mine frequently quoted copper concentrates which were scheduled to be shipped in January, and the TCs were $82-83/mt.

According to foreign media, Copper Mountain Mine in Canada resumed its production after being attacked by ransomware on December 27, 2022 (SMM predicts that the copper output of Copper Mountain Mine will be 45,000 mt in 2022). First Quantum started negotiations with the Panamanian government on a new agreement, which will increase the taxes and fees paid by the company. Federico Alfaro, Panama's Minister of Industry and Commerce, said that there are fundamental differences between the two sides on issues such as royalties, loss deduction, tax avoidance, value-added tax, etc., and the information given by First Quantum to investors is misleading. First Quantum responded that it was ready to appeal the Panamanian government's order to stop the production of the Cobre Panama copper mine. According to SMM research, First Quantum has promised a Chinese smelter that it can deliver the cargoes in January. Moreover, rumours said that China may resume importing copper concentrates from Australia, but according to SMM survey, the news needs to be further confirmed. At present, no smelter has purchased copper concentrates from Australia.

According to SMM data, as of last Friday January 13, inventory of copper concentrates across five Chinese ports stood at 759,000 mt in physical content, up 34,000 mt WoW. According to the customs data, China imported 2.1 million mt of copper ore and concentrate in December 2022, up 2.1% on the year but down 12.8% on the month. According to SMM survey, some mines said that the impact of the fire accident at Ventanas port on the shipment of copper concentrates may last for several months. Besides, the Las Bambas copper mine still cannot ship goods smoothly. News of China resuming copper concentrate imports from Australia has not been verified yet. The short-term copper concentrate supply can hardly improve. The pricing coefficient of domestic spot Cu 20% copper concentrate stood at 88.5-89.5% on a delivery-to-factory basis.