Spot Copper Concentrate TCs Extended Gains

SHANGHAI, Sep 27 (SMM) - As of Friday September 24, the SMM Imported Copper Concentrate Index stood at $65.29/mt, $2.88/mt higher than a week earlier. Many smelters reported increased offers after the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, with a larger proportion of dirty copper concentrate. The current market offers and transactions are mostly spot shipments scheduled for November and December, and there are also many offers and transactions for spot cargoes scheduled for the first quarter of next year. According to the transactions, traded TCs for spot cargoes scheduled for November and December stood at $61-61/mt, while there were combined transactions with a longer period traded with spot TCs of $66-67/mt.

The market has paid more attention to the impact of power rationing in various regions. China has stepped up the energy consumption dual control policies in a bid to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality target. Apart from south-west and south China, east and north China like Zhejiang, Anhui and Tianjin have also implemented power rationing. According to SMM, only Zhangjiagang United Copper in Jiangsu province has been affected significantly as of now, which currently maintains only 30% of the full capacity. Other smelters in the above-mentioned provinces and cities have not been affected by the power rationing policy. SMM believes that there is no need to worry too much about the reduction in demand for copper concentrates given the high profit of smelting, despite the continued spread of power rationing.