BHP Billiton has increased its raw material processing fees to Pan Pacific Copper by 70%.
The increase is the first of its kind in three years.
According to Nippon Mining & Metals Co spokesperson Masatoshi Kawada, fees are about 70% higher than last year.
Kawada did not specify the new rates except to say that BHP Billiton had reached a deal with the company.
Pan Pacific Copper is a joint venture between Nippon Mining and Mitsui Mining & Smelting.
BHP Billiton media relations officer Peter Ogden told MINING DAILY that the company would not comment on price negotiations.
BHP will release a full production report on January 21 and its interim results on February 4.
According to a statement released by Pan Pacific Copper, the higher fees will result in increased earnings for the company and increased costs for BHP Billiton.
The fees are a benchmark for Asian smelters and follow similar gains for Jiangxi Copper, Sterlite Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Materials in negotiations this month with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.
Copper has plunged by more than half from a record $US8,940 a ton in July as the global economic slowdown reduced demand for the metal used in pipes, tubes and cables, driving producers in Japan and China to cut output and pushing global inventories to the highest level in five years.
Copper fell 54% last year, the worst performance since at least 1987.
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