TCs of Spot Copper Concentrate Rose to Above $80/mt Affected by the Qinhuangdao Port Incident  

SHANGHAI, Sep 9 (SMM) - As of September 9, the SMM Imported Copper Concentrate Index (weekly) stood at $81.96/mt, $2.71/mt higher than last week. The spot copper concentrate trading picked up this week. According to SMM survey, TCs between mines and smelters were around $74-75/mt, and those between traders and smelters stood at $84-85/mt. The market still witnessed the resale of copper concentrates at Qinhuangdao Port, with the TCs standing at $84-85/mt, which were mainly scheduled to be shipped from September to December.
On the news front, costs of Antofagasta increased because Chile's environmental regulator SMA ordered Antofagasta to implement measures such as the establishment of marine animal rescue centres, simulation of the impact of hydrocarbons on coastal areas, and “special monitoring” of animals. Moreover, its production cannot be resumed until the risks posed by mining to the environment are completely eliminated. As a result, costs for Los Pelambres rose from the expected $1.7 billion to $2.2 billion. In terms of BHP’s Escondida copper mine, as the mine repeatedly ignored complaints from workers' unions about potential production risks, the workers will suspend their operation in turns on September 12 and 14. If the problem still cannot be solved, they will launch an indefinite strike. Production of De Beers’ Gahcho Kue mine in Canada was suspended as an employee was injured and died. Rio Tinto and McEwen Copper jointly developed the Elder Creek copper-gold project in Nevada, US. Moreover, it reached a final acquisition agreement with Turquoise Hill to acquire its remaining shares for $3.3 billion and to help Turquoise Hill solve the liquidity problem.
According to the SMM data, on September 9, the port inventory of copper concentrate stood at 827,000 mt in physical content, down 32,000 mt compared with last week, while the in-plant inventories of smelters were still high. Buyers quoted the TCs of clean concentrates which were scheduled to be shipped in the fourth quarter at $84-89/mt, while the sellers offered $71-75/mt. The pricing coefficient of domestic spot Cu 20% copper concentrate stood at 88.5-89.5% on a delivery-to-factory basis.