London 24/06/2016 - The China Smelters Purchasing Team (CSPT) has decided to lift its lower limit for third quarter copper concentrate purchases by 21 percent in line with a rising spot market, sources said Friday.
The decision was made at the team's meeting in China on Friday, whereby the group agreed not to purchase copper concentrates at treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) below $103 per tonne/10.3 cents per pound. This is up 21 percent from $85/8.5 cents for the second quarter.
The purchase price floor is also higher than the benchmark of $97.35 per tonne/9.735 cents per pound in 2016.
Spot TC/RCs, which miners pay to smelters to turn copper concentrate into refined copper, have risen to a five-month high of $97-102 per tonne/9.7-10.2 cents per pound for clean, standard grade concentrate, according to FastMarkets' latest assessment on June 10.
(Editing by Vivian Teo)