Copper supply rethink as smelter treatment charges fall

The drop in headline treatment and refining charges has taken the market by surprise. — Reuters

CHILEAN copper miner Antofagasta last week inked the first major 2024 concentrates supply deal with China’s Jinchuan Group. It remains to be seen whether the terms form an annual benchmark for others.

Indeed, it’s far from certain there will be a single benchmark for next year due to a shifting copper concentrates landscape.