Copper Climbs on Dollar Weakness, Gains Capped by High Six-Year Charges

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BEIJING — Copper prices climbed on Friday, supported by a weaker dollar, while its gains were limited by high six-year processing and refining (TC/RC) charges that reflected an expected excess supply of copper concentrate. copper.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $8,062 a tonne at 0239 GMT, while December’s most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.4% at 65,230 yuan ($9,112.75) per ton.

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The dollar was near a three-month low and was on course for a weekly loss on Friday, as the prospect of a slower US interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve as early as December dominated the minds of investors. investors and maintained the mood.

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A weaker US currency supports metal prices because it allows non-dollar holders to buy commodities at dollar prices.

Miner Freeport-McMoRan has agreed to TC/RC of $88 a tonne and 8.8 cents a pound for copper concentrate supply in 2023 with Chinese smelters, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.

Charges, paid by miners to smelters to turn ore into refined metal, are the highest since 2017 and 35% above the 2022 baseline, due to a forecast oversupply of copper concentrate.

Among other metals, LME aluminum rose 0.8% to $2,385.5 a tonne, zinc rose 0.6% to $2,934 a tonne, while lead finished lower. 0.3% to $2,124 per tonne.

Aluminum SHFE fell 0.1% to 18,965 yuan per ton, zinc gained 0.6% to 23,845 yuan per ton, tin gained 1.1% to 184,310 yuan per ton and nickel rose 0.4% to 200,040 yuan a ton.

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($1 = 7.1581 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by William Mallard)