Subscriber note: Platts to reduce frequency of CIF Japan copper conc assessments

Platts intends to reduce the frequency of assessment for copper concentrate treatment and refining charges, CIF Japan (symbols AAFGC00 and MMCCJ00) and to align the name of the assessments across Platts Metals Daily, Platts Metals Alert and the Platts internal data base. Effective June 30 the assessments will be made quarterly, rather than on the current daily schedule. The change reflects the long-standing market practice in Japan, where copper concentrate TC/RCs are negotiated primarily on a semi-annual (half-year) basis. This change follows an announcement in February and period of industry feedback. The quarterly assessment will be published on the last day of each quarter (March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31) and will take into account the most recently concluded deals, bids or offers for copper concentrate TC/RCs under quarterly, semi-annual or annual contracts, delivered CIF Japan. The assessments reflect narrow price ranges where the majority of the most recent business occurred. The change in assessment frequency reflects what has prevailed in the market and will not result in a change to the data history or the consistency of the data going forward. The assessment names as they appear in Platts Metals Daily and Platts Metals Alert will change to: Copper Concentrate TC CIF Japan QX (symbol AAFGC00), expressed as a range in dollars per mt, and Copper Concentrate RC CIF Japan QX (symbol MMCCJ00), expressed as a range in cents/lb. The specification for the copper concentrate remains 25-30% Cu copper-in-concentrate, any origin, lumpy ore, 0-30 day payment terms; cargo begins leaving port in month following transaction. Please address feedback to Karen McBeth, karen_mcbeth@platts.com.