View source for Miners Smelters Still Divided On Copper Processing Charges

<br>By Tom Daly and Zandi Shabalala<br> <br>Nov 26 (Reuters) - Copper miners and smelters are late agreeing charges for processing concentrate for next year, three sources with knowledge of the talks said, with smelters seeking a rollover while miners are pointing to a tight spot market.<br> <br>Miners pay smelters treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) to process copper concentrate into refined metal.<br> <br>The first settlement between a major copper miner and a Chinese smelter in the annual mating season is usually during negotiations in November and serves as the benchmark for the year ahead.<br> <br>For 2020, it was set at $62 a tonne and 6.2 cents per lb by China's Jiangxi Copper and Freeport-McMoRan Inc , whose Indonesian unit operates Grasberg, the world's second largest copper mine.<br> <br>However, spot TCs &lt;AM-CN-CUCONC&gt;, which fall when the concentrate market tightens, are now at an eight-year low of $50.50 a tonne.<br> <br>"Smelters are aiming for a settlement in the low $60s and miners are proposing ... mid $50s," said one source involved in the discussions, declining to be [http://www.travelwitheaseblog.com/?s=identified identified].<br> <br>A second source, working for a miner and also declining to be named, said the two sides were more than $10 apart on charges.<br> <br>Chile's Antofagasta and Freeport are typically the first to agree charges.<br> <br>However,  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/blog/du-lich-bali-tuyet-voi-nhu-the-nao.html kynghidongduong.vn] a third source involved in the talks said the problem for Freeport is that Grasberg's concentrate will risk exceeding the maximum permitted fluorine content of 1,000 parts per million, or 0.1%,  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/blog/du-lich-bali-tuyet-voi-nhu-the-nao.html đi du lịch ba li] in top copper consumer China.<br> <br>"Grasberg will produce a lot more but the concentrates come with high fluorine," said the source, adding that the chemical impurity essentially limits destinations for Grasberg's concentrate.<br><br>"That puts them in a weaker negotiating position."<br> <br>Freeport did not respond to a request for comment.<br> <br>"It is a big challenge for Freeport. (It's) hanging over the negotiations," said CRU analyst Hamish Sampson.<br> <br>Grasberg is moving from open pit to underground mining.<br>Freeport Indonesia Chief Executive Tony Wenas said in June it would produce 160,000 tonnes of ore per day in 2021.<br> <br>(Reporting by Tom Daly and Zandi Shabalala; additional reporting by Shivani Singh; editing by Pratima Desai and Marguerita Choy)<br>