AL ETKAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE although they are not registered on the London Stock Exchange LME seeks to occupy a significant position in the world in terms of its exploitable copper resources, which contain 40 million tons of metal in the deposit.

The main products offered by AL ETKAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE are concentrates, cathodes and copper wire rod .

They are the result of various stages of copper ore processing and recycling of copper scrap. For all these products, the price benchmark (i.e. the determinant of copper prices in physical contracts for the sale of copper-bearing materials and copper products worldwide) are stock exchange quotations, the most frequently used of which is the “cash settlement” quotation of the London Metal Exchange (LME). Less commonly used are alternative copper price quotations on the stock exchanges in New York (COMEX) and Shanghai (Shanghai Futures Exchange). Quotations on the LME exchange concern refined copper in the form of grade A cathodes (Grade A), with a minimum purity of 99.99% Cu (standard BS:EN 1978:1998 – Cu-CATH-1).

In order to be able to apply stock exchange prices to purchase/sale transactions of products not covered by the above-mentioned quality standard (i.e. all types of copper-bearing materials, e.g. Cu concentrates, Cu scrap or more processed products, such as Cu wire rod), market participants have developed a bonus system and discounts correcting stock exchange prices. This allows you to determine the market price of the product, taking into account the degree of its processing, its physical form and chemical composition, transport and insurance costs to the agreed delivery place and the current availability of metal in a given location.

Copper concentrate is a product obtained by processing/enriching copper ores, which are usually characterized by a relatively low metal content and are not suitable for direct use in the metallurgical process. In most cases, the copper content in the concentrate ranges from several to several dozen percent, which enables further processing in copper smelters. The costs of supplying products with a lower copper content (e.g. copper ores) practically eliminate their share in global market turnover (with some exceptions), so it can be concluded that Cu concentrate is the first form of copper ore processing possible for general trade. The metallurgical process produces copper and processing by-products (mainly precious metals, sulfuric acid, lead, etc.).

The main participants of the concentrates market are mines that supply the product to the market and steelworks for which concentrates are the raw material for production. Trading companies also participate in international trade, intermediating in purchase/sale transactions and offering additional services expected by the parties.

Cu concentrates require processing into refined copper, which involves processing costs and incomplete recovery of metals at individual stages of production. Therefore, the transaction price should include a number of discounts from the quotations set by the stock exchange for refined copper. The benchmark of discounts (in terms of processing and refining premium TC/RC) on the market is determined through negotiations by the main concentrate producers (Freeport McMoRan, Antofagasta) and their customers (mainly Chinese and Japanese steelworks).

AL ETKAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE sells copper concentrate from steelworks from Europe, Poland and the Netherlands.