SHANGHAI, May 25 (SMM) – Treatment charges (TCs) of imported clean copper concentrate for the week ended Friday May 25 rose $1/mt from a week ago, and $4/mt from two weeks ago, and stood at $75-82/mt, SMM assessed.

Supplies of imported copper concentrate grew as overseas smelters suspended operation, and this buoyed TCs. Domestic demand for copper concentrate is likely to rise in the short term as new, upcoming copper smelters progress as scheduled, SMM learned. 

At the suspended copper smelter owned by Vedanta Resources in India's state of Tamil Nadu, at least nine people were killed on Tuesday May 22 in a violent protest to shut the plant on environmental concerns, local authorities said. Vedanta said that the protest was sparked by "false allegations" that the smelter will double its capacity to 800,000 mt per year.

The plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt a year, which accounted for 35% of India's copper market. It has been shut for more than 50 days and will remain closed until June 6, at the least, as it had failed to comply with environmental regulations, the local pollution regulator disclosed.

In the short term, SMM believes that the suspension will delay the start of a global shortage of copper concentrate.  

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