Trafigura brings Australian mined copper back to China -sources

29Metals

13/11/2023 13:16

* 
      Standard Australian copper concentrate shipment en route
to
China
    

        * 
      Trafigura unit to assist with customs clearance
    

        * 
      Entry of the cargo points to end of informal ban
    

  
    By Julian Luk
       LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Swiss commodity trader
Trafigura has agreed to help Chinese smelters clear imports of
copper concentrate from Australia, suggesting an informal ban
has been lifted if the cargo clears customs, three sources
familiar with the matter told Reuters.
    China has gradually been easing a raft of unofficial curbs
and tariffs on Australian imports, including copper concentrate
and coal, that were imposed in 2020 at the height of a
diplomatic spat over trade and security.
    Despite a wider informal easing, state-owned Chinese
smelters that turn concentrate into copper metal, have been
reluctant to buy from Australia, which accounted for 5%, or 1.1
million tonnes, of China's total copper concentrate imports in
2019.
    However a shipment of around 10,000 metric tonnes of copper
concentrate mined from Western Australia's Golden Grove, owned
by 29Metals  29M.AX , is on its way to Shandong province, where
many major Chinese smelters are located, the sources said.  
    The passage of a large cargo of Australian concentrate
through customs in China will ease smelters' concerns about a
political backlash, the sources said.
    "We have been waiting for others to be the first to resume
buying Australia-origin concentrate," a source at a major
Chinese copper concentrates importer said. 
    Copper is vital for the power industry due to its
conductivity. China consumes nearly half of the global mined
copper supply estimated at around 25 million tonnes this year.
    Trafigura's Chinese affiliate will be responsible for
clearing customs on behalf of domestic consumers once the cargo
arrives at Shandong's Qingdao port, two of the sources said.    
    "Once Trafigura gets the clearance, it is official that the
soft ban has come to an end," the source added.
    Trafigura declined to comment. 29Metals did not respond to a
request for comment.  
    Australian trade data shows exports worth A$60.5 million 
($38.52 million) of copper ore and concentrate to China in
January.
    However, the cargo was not logged in Chinese data, which
officially shows that in the first nine months of this year,
only $10 worth of copper ore and concentrate were imported.
    Australia produced 818,800 tonnes of copper in ore and
concentrates last year and is, according International Copper
Study Group, the world's eighth-largest producer of the metal.
    The shipments from Australia come at a critical time, when
Chinese smelters are starting annual negotiations with major
miners on annual treatment charges and refining charges (TC/RC).
    TC/RC is the income received by smelters for turning
concentrates into refined copper, which typically rises with
higher supply and falls during times of shortages.
        


($1 = 1.5706 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Julian Luk; Editing by Veronica Brown and Sharon
Singleton)
 ((julian.luk@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
julian.luk.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))