Copper smelters in China, Japan secure 10% fee rise

Jiangxi Copper Co, China's biggest copper smelter, and Japan's Pan Pacific Copper Co said mining companies will pay them at least 10 percent more in fees to process the metal in 2013, the third straight year the fees have risen.

Pan Qifang, secretary of the board for the Guixi, Jiangxi province-based smelter, said on Thursday that Jiangxi Copper settled fees with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc and another miner at $70 a metric ton and 7 cents per pound. Pan Pacific agreed with several miners to increase the charges by 10 percent, said Shigeru Oi, senior executive officer for raw materials.