Smelting capacity keeps expanding while mine additions stay limited. Copper concentrate treatment charges remain low and zinc supply is recovering more slowly than expected.
On the supply side, new projects at major copper mines are ramping up slowly while domestic smelting capacity continues to expand. Spot treatment charges for copper concentrate are under pressure, and smelters are raising their requirements on feed quality and consistency.
For zinc, restart progress at some overseas mines has fallen short of expectations while domestic smelter utilisation stays high, so the tight concentrate market is unlikely to ease materially in the near term.
For a trading house, price volatility is not the hardest part — ore availability and working capital are. Holding sensible inventory and controlling payment terms matters more than calling direction.