Aurubis raises 2026 copper premium offers to European customers
Aurubis has offered copper premiums to customers in Europe at $315/t for 2026, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Benchmark. The level is considerably higher than the $228/t premium for 2025.
Sources said Aurubis had provided little explanation for the sharp increase in premiums, though all agreed it broadly reflected current market conditions.
The copper market is facing challenging treatment charges (TCs) — the fee smelters charge miners to process concentrate — the prospect of sizable supply losses in Indonesia, and a significant arbitrage between the CME and LME. These converging factors have created an environment in which premium offers are likely to be pushed higher by suppliers.
“I think it’s the TCs,” said one producer source. “TCs are getting worse and premiums need to react.”
“It is a difficult market [for smelters], with TCs and scrap supply challenging, and supply isn’t great,” said a copper trader.
“The reasons are very clear,” said another producer, citing the broad CME/LME arbitrage and production losses in Asia.
The Aurubis premium offer, along with CODELCO’s, often sets the tone for copper premium levels in Europe, which reached record highs this year on the back of the broad CME/LME arbitrage. The Hamburg-based company is holding its annual capital markets day in London tomorrow, where more details on the premium are expected to be revealed.
Premiums in Europe have been on an upward trajectory since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, rising from $123/t prior to the invasion to $228/t in 2023. Historically, Europe had been a large importer of copper from Russia.
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