Thursday, April 03, 2025

 GLOBALIZATION 

Codelco will send copper concentrate to Adani smelter in India


Photo by Bloomberg

2nd April 2025
By: Bloomberg

Codelco has agreed to supply copper concentrate to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s smelter in India, as part of a push by the world’s biggest copper miner to open up new markets.

The Chilean group “agreed to supply concentrates starting this year, which will support the diversification of our customer portfolio,” Codelco said in a website post. Chairperson Maximo Pacheco met with Adani at the smelter in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Tuesday.


The $1.2-billion Kutch operation has had a challenging ramp-up after starting last year, with the global copper market facing its biggest shortfall of concentrate in decades. Glencore and Hudbay Minerals were among its other suppliers, people familiar with the matter said last year.

No other details about Adani’s supply agreement with Codelco were given.


Copper smelters worldwide have faced severe difficulties in getting enough ore, and Adani’s plant was among a wave of new sites that threatened to stretch supplies even further. Smelting fees — the sum received by processors for turning concentrates into refined metal — have plunged below zero and reached a new low last week, according to Fastmarkets data.

Codelco has long flagged India as a major growth market for copper, which is used in pipes and wires, as well as in batteries. Demand is expected to grow rapidly as the nation’s economy modernizes, and Adani Enterprises plans to expand the Gujarat operation to meet that rising consumption.

Codelco’s Pacheco was among Chilean executives visiting India with President Gabriel Boric, who met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday to kick off talks for a trade deal between the two nations.

The Chilean company said it also signed a memorandum of understanding with State-owned Indian mining group Hindustan Copper on cooperation in exploration and processing. 


Korea Zinc agrees 52% cut in fees to turn Teck’s ores into metal

Red Dog mine in Alaska. Credit: Teck Resources

Korea Zinc Co. has accepted a 52% cut in processing fees to turn mined zinc produced by Teck Resources Ltd. into refined metal under a supply deal for this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The treatment charge that Korea Zinc will receive for smelting semi-processed ores known as concentrates will drop to $80 per ton this year, down from $165 a year ago, said the people, who asked not to be named due to the commercial sensitivity of the matter.

The annual deals for concentrates produced at Teck’s Red Dog mine in Alaska are often used as the benchmark for other deals in the zinc industry. A sharp decline in processing fees could deal a major blow to global zinc smelters, as treatment charges typically account for one-third of their revenues.

The deal follows a collapse in treatment charges in the spot market over recent months, fueled by a worsening mismatch between global smelting capacity and the availability of mined ores. With profits plunging, there are growing expectations that smelters will need to dial back output or suspend production entirely.

Major zinc producer Trafigura Group launched a strategic review of its struggling Nyrstar assets in Australia last week, and called for government support to keep them running. Glencore Plc is also in the process of reviewing its global smelting assets, citing challenging treatment charges in zinc and copper.

Zinc, mainly used in protecting steel from corrosion, is the world’s fourth most-used refined metal, after iron, aluminum and copper.

A spokesperson for Korea Zinc declined to comment. A spokesperson for Teck didn’t reply to a request for comment.

(By Julian Luk)

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