Chinese Copper Smelters Refuse to Set Processing Fee Guidance
China's biggest copper smelters have decided not to publish their usual quarterly benchmark for processing fees, marking the seventh consecutive quarter without it. This decision comes as the fees paid by miners remain negative for nearly two years.
The China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) made this call, and it highlights the difficulty in pricing feedstock due to the scarcity of copper concentrate. The shortage is also showing up in treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs), which have been negative and recently fell further: on September 18th, Argus put spot TC/RCs at minus $226.2 per metric ton.
CSPT has urged smelters to cut output, and Zijin Tianfeng Futures noted that weaker sulfuric acid prices are removing an important byproduct cushion for profits. This situation is a warning sign for refined-copper supply as TC/RCs act like a processing margin: when that margin is deeply negative, running harder can actually deepen losses.