Copper in short supply

Hong Kong
Chinese copper smelters may not get enough raw material after domestic mines and scrap providers scaled down sales because of low prices, which may force some smelters to trim production in the third quarter, industry players said on Wednesday.
Some smelters were trying to import more spot concentrates but the high treatment charges asked by large smelters may limit what they are able to buy. Copper touched a six-year low at 38,180 yuan ($6,149) a tonne on Tuesday.
The price rose above 39,000 yuan on Wednesday but was still below the 40,000 yuan that is estimated to be the production cost for many mines in China. Smaller mines have reduced their sales of concentrates this month, according to an executive at a large smelter and Yang Changhua, senior analyst at state-backed research firm Antaike. "Our mining costs are higher than the metal price, so we cut our mine production and want to buy concentrates from other mines," said a smelter, whose firm also owns copper mines in China.