SHANGHAI, Feb 27 (SMM) – As of Friday February 24, the SMM Imported Copper Concentrate Index (weekly) stood at $77.88/mt, $0.35/mt lower than February 17. SMM understood that, during the week, a deal of clean ore was struck between one mine and one smelter with TCs of $75/mt, scheduled for April. Inquiries from one trader for clean ore, scheduled for the second quarter stood at $65/mt. While offers for blended ore have been ample recently, those for clean ore have been scarce. TCs for the first scheduled for the second quarter stood at $81-89/mt. The price coefficient of domestic spot Cu 20% copper concentrates stood at 88.5-89.5% on a delivery-to-factory basis.
During the week, the production of copper concentrate was once again disturbed by geopolitical factors. The conflict between First Quantum Minerals and the Panamanian government over mining taxes and fees has been escalating since December 2022. After more than two months of row, First Quantum Minerals announced on February 23, 2023 that the Cobre Panama copper mine suspended production (copper output at Cobre Panama copper mine stood at 350,000 mt in 2022). According to SMM survey, domestic smelters that have business dealings with Cobre Panama copper mine said that since the earliest shipments of raw material are scheduled for May, they have not received a notice of force majeure from First Quantum Minerals for the time being, nor have they notified whether the shipments will be delayed or made as scheduled.
Chinese smelters, including China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining’s Headquarters, Jiangxi Copper, Tongling Jinguan, and Zhejiang Jiangtong Fuye Heding Copper, will undertake maintenance in April. Meanwhile, port capacity in South America will continue to recover. The production at Peruvian mines has topped expectations and Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 in Chile will be commissioning soon. SMM thus expects spot TCs to rise at the beginning of the second quarter.
According to SMM statistics, the inventory of copper concentrate at five Chinese ports was 778,000 mt in the week ending February 24, a growth of 5,000 mt from a week earlier.
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