China has built a commanding grip on global copper processing that could take the West decades and billions of dollars to challenge, veteran metallurgist Phillip Mackey has warned. “They’re the Saudi Arabia of copper smelting, if you like,” Mackey said on The Northern Miner Podcast. During the same period, the US reduced its copper smelting fleet from about a dozen facilities to just two as environmental permitting, soaring capital costs and decade-long construction timelines discouraged investment. The result has been a collapse in treatment and refining charges as Chinese smelting capacity outpaced concentrate supply. Slow rebuildMackey said rebuilding Western smelting capacity is achievable but would require long-term political commitment and substantial financial support.