Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
China Zinc Smelters Purchasing Team (CZSPT) has set domestic processing fees for zinc concentrate at between 2,000 yuan ($281.57) a metric ton and 2,500 a ton for the first quarter in 2025, state-backed research house Antaike said on Tuesday.
The group also set processing fees for imported cargoes at $10–$30 per dry ton, Antaike said, adding that it discussed how to “strengthen industry self-discipline” in an environment where “zinc smelting and processing fees continue to seriously deviate from costs”.
In August, major Chinese zinc smelters had agreed at a meeting to adjust planned maintenance on production lines and postpone commissioning of new capacity, according to a report from Antaike at the time, as falling ore processing prices due to tight ore supply eroded the sector’s profits.
They had also discussed potentially establishing a floor pricing mechanism for zinc concentrate treatment charges.
($1 = 7.1030 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(By Amy Lv, Bernard Orr and Colleen Howe; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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