SHANGHAI, Nov 11 (SMM)—It is reported that a senior executive of China Minmetals Corporation on Tuesday called for the establishment of a joint organization of Chinese zinc smelters to negotiate with miners on zinc concentrate supply and pricing in the light of the existing joint negotiation group on copper raw materials in China. "We want to build a healthier market," he said. “The aim of this proposal is for Chinese zinc smelters to agree on a TC benchmark price for zinc concentrates in the future. We need more support from smelters now. "

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In 2003, Tongling Nonferrous Metals, Yunnan Copper and Jiangxi Copper established a China smelters purchase team (CSPT) to purchase copper concentrates from international markets. At present, the team has 13 members, with total refining capacity of 7.5 million mt, accounting for 68% of total copper refining capacity in China, and their copper concentrate imports account for 82% of China’s copper concentrate imports.  

China is the world's largest producer of refined zinc, and the annual TC benchmark has usually been agreed between Canadian miner Teck Resources and smelter Korea Zinc. In March 2020, the benchmark price was set at $299.75/mt, the highest in 12 years.

It is now the critical time for Chinese smelters and overseas mines to negotiate on long-term treatment charges for zinc concentrate, and the final benchmark price will become a strong wind indicator for market supply in the coming year, which has attracted much attention and discussion. At the 2020 China Nonferrous Metals Industry annual meeting to be held on December 3-4, 2020, SMM has carefully arranged an exchange platform for long-term contract negotiation at the end of this year. At that time, domestic smelters and overseas mining giants will conduct in-depth discussion and negotiation on 2021 long-term agreements, laying the foundation for the final benchmark price.