Sumitomo Metal expects to secure double-digit copper treatment charges for 2026

Sumitomo Metal Mining expects to secure double-digit treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for 2026 though below the 2025 Japan benchmark of $25 a metric ton and 2.5 cents per pound, an executive said on Monday, adding negotiations are still ongoing.

Yasuhiro Miyake, executive officer and general manager of finance and accounting department, said that higher copper premiums will partially offset weaker TC/RCs.

TC/RCs, fees paid by miners to turn concentrate into refined metal, have come under pressure as global smelting capacity, led by China, expands faster than mined supply, squeezing smelters’ margins.

Japanese smelters secured TC/RCs of $25 a ton and 2.5 cents per pound for 2025, higher than the $21.25 a ton and 2.125 cents per pound agreed between a Chilean miner and a Chinese smelter.

“We are currently in the final stages of negotiations, but we expect to secure a double-digit treatment charges for 2026,” Miyake said, without providing further details.

The supply-demand balance in the copper concentrate market is expected to normalize as miners’ output is recovering, Miyake said, though he did not specify a timeframe.

Sumitomo Metal has no plans to cut primary metal production despite weaker TC/RCs, Miyake said.

($1 = 157.0500 yen)

(By Yuka Obayashi, Editing by Louise Heavens)