SHANGHAI, Apr 8 (SMM) – China’s copper smelters failed to reach an agreement on the floor treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for the second quarter of 2020 at a meeting by video conference on Wednesday.

The floor TC is expected to fall within the range of $60-65/mt, according to the quarterly meeting of the China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) and quotes from smaller smelters.

For the first quarter of 2020, the floor TC/RCs were set at $67/mt and 6.7 cents/lb, and the TC marked a moderate increase of $1/mt from the last quarter of 2019.

At the meeting, small and medium-sized smelters said that they are still facing heavy pressure from the byproduct—sulpfuric acid.

SMM copper concentrate index, which measures TCs for spot trades in China, stood at $62.5/mt for the week ended April 3, down $2.82/mt from the previous week. The index reached a one-year peak of $71.47/mt in the week ended March 13.

Spot TCs fell sharply as concerns about supply were sparked by measures imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in major producing countries.