Copper market: Impact of rising sulphuric acid prices

Sulphuric acid prices are rising, leaving small SX-EW producers nervous : 18.4% (3.7 Mt) of global production stems from solvent extraction and electro twinning (SX-EW). By local market prices, between November 2017 and July 2018, sulphuric acid price s roughly doubled from $50/t to >$100/t. With ore processing making up just 9% of global sulphuric acid demand, price is driven by factors external to the metals market. This leaves producers who need to purchase sulphuric acid for SX-EW operations exposed. A rising sulphuric acid price can have opposite effects on copper companies, depending on whether they are net consumers or producers of sulphuric acid. W e believe it is the smallest producers that operate solely through SX-EW operations that are most at risk. The report has been produced with the assistance of Luke Cottell