Miners to set TC/RC benchmarks,

premiums at Asia Copper Week

BnamericasPublished: Tuesday, November 19, 2013

China's biggest copper producer Jiangxi Copper and US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold
(NYSE: FCX) have agreed to US$92/t and 9.2c/lb for 2014 in copper treatment and refining fees
(TC/RCs) and other miners are expected to follow suit, according to reports from Asia Copper Week,
being held in Shanghai from November 19-21.

"Other miners like Coldeco, Glencore Xstrata and others will offer soon during the Cesco week in
Shanghai using Freeport's offer as benchmark," a smelter source in China was quoted as saying by
Metal Bulletin.

The FCX agreement with Jiangxi is nearly one third more than 2013 charges, according to the report.
The higher charges are due to the anticipated growth in copper mine supply that will tip the market
into surplus next year. TC/RCs are paid by miners to smelters to refine concentrate into metal. As
the supply of concentrate increases, the demand for smelting capacity and the charges also rise.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) usually produces high grades and has proposed lower charges to Chinese
smelters in 2013 and 2014, according to a Reuters report.

However, the offer of US$80/t and 8c/lb to Chinese smelters now looks very low, and it could be
under pressure to hike the rate, industry sources were cited as saying in the report…

https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/miners-to-set-tcrc-benchmarks-premiums-at-asia-copper-
week

Copper TC/RCs at 11-month high ahead of benchmark talks

Treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for copper concentrates rose to an eleven-month high on
the first two weeks of October, during which the China Smelters Purchasing Team (CSPT) set a price
floor for fourth-quarter concentrates purchases.

The Metal Bulletin Copper Concentrates Index rose to $115.1 per dry metric tonne/11.51 cents per
lb on Wednesday October 15, up from $113.5/11.35 previously, and marginally above the price floor
of $115/11.5 established by the seven members of the CSPT at a meeting earlier this month.

The move by the CSPT comes shortly before the traditional start of annual contract negotiations
during London Metal Exchange Week on October 19, ahead of which trading in the spot market
traditionally dies down. But while most smelters in Korea, Japan and India have very limited
additional capacity to store or treat additional spot cargoes, some smelters in China are still buying
actively ahead of the mating season, attracted by the rise in processing fees, sources said. “The
higher TC/RCs are...
https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3390846/Copper-TCRCs-at-11-month-high-ahead-of-
benchmark-talks.html