COMMENT: What’s next for copper TC/RC benchmark after Antofagasta 2020 deal?

摘要

This week, beginning Monday July 8, has seen one of the world’s biggest copper miners, Chile’s Antofagasta, begin to break away from the traditional annual price benchmark system by sealing an early deal with Chinese smelters to supply concentrates for the first half of 2020. The deal has raised questions in the market over the viability of the annual copper concentrate treatment charge/refinement charge (TC/RC) benchmark system long before October, when negotiations typically start.