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Metals & minerals trading
Trafigura handles the supply of metal concentrates from mines to
smelting facilities and of refined metals from smelters to
downstream consumers such as rod mills and galvanisers. Trafigura
trades copper, lead and zinc concentrates as well as alumina, the
prime source of aluminium.
The greatest complexity in the metals and minerals trading
sector is in concentrates. The term "concentrate" refers to the
product produced by mines from ore extracted out of the ground.
Each type of concentrate has different degrees of impurities and
complexities dependent on the ore mineralogy, which imply greater
or lesser costs to treat and refine.
In-depth, on-the-ground information on the composition of
concentrates and understanding the characteristics of each smelter
is central to the trading of them. For this reason, the most
successful minerals traders also have a long term commitment in the
production and supply chain process.
Trafigura’s refined trading activity centres around copper,
lead, zinc and aluminum metal.
"Refined metal" refers to metal of purity greater than 99.95%
content produced by smelters around the world. Unlike concentrate,
refined metal is generally homogenous in terms of quality.