While market watchers attribute price rises to concerns about the stability of supply, because of the wage negotiations at Escondida in Chile and a shutdown of Sterlite’s smelter in southern India, the rising terms of copper concentrates treatment charges (TCs), typically a sign of ample raw material supply, have suggested other factors.
Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange surged to five-year high on June 7, surpassing $7,300 per tonne for the first time since October 2013. Copper volumes traded on the exchange were also at their highest since February this year.
The price rally was driven mainly by the uncertainties created by wage negotiations at the Escondida copper mine in Chile, which produces 5% of the world’s...
