European copper smelter Aurubis is rejecting low concentrate offers
Europe's biggest copper smelter Aurubis is comfortable rejecting lowball offers for copper concentrate, an executive said on Wednesday, as tense negotiations over annual contracts for the feedstock take place against record negative processing fees.
Aurubis has turned down bad deals even this year, according to Tim Kurth, COO, custom smelting and products at the company told Reuters on Wednesday at the World Copper Conference Asia 2025 in Shanghai.
“In Europe, we say ‘no’, definitely,” he said. “We have really the choice even these days to reject the one or the other deal when it’s truly too extreme or negative.”
Miners, smelters and traders from around the world are gathering this week in Shanghai where eyes are on annual negotiations between smelters in China, the world’s largest producer, and Chilean copper mining heavyweight Antofagasta.
Kurth said that the benchmark price is becoming less relevant in comparison to other factors like logistics or financing although it can’t be entirely discarded.
“I don’t think that the benchmark is really reflecting the market,” he said.
“To use one deal … as the benchmark and knowing what is all in and what kind of extreme positions are in this benchmark, this is something that we are always confronting in our discussions.”