Copper price extends gain on Chinese recovery while US election looms
Prices climbed as much as 0.9% after China’s monthly services activity expanded at the fastest pace since July.
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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