OECD/IGF copper transfer pricing framework due 21 September 2026

Copper is especially challenging for tax administrations to price accurately because economically relevant characteristics that significantly affect pricing may vary. OECD and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) publish a 45-page copper schedule on 21 September 2026Oecd that applies their joint mineral pricing framework to copperOecd: the schedule identifies the primary economic factors influencing the price of copper and prices related-party copper sales under the Comparable Uncontrolled Price (CUP) methodOecd, with the stated aim that developing countries are able to tax copper exports appropriately.

The framework treats the CUP method as the starting point for commodity minerals.Oecd Paragraph 2.18 of the 2022 OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines says the CUP method would generally be an appropriate transfer pricing method for establishing the arm's length price for the transfer of commodities between associated enterprises. Where comparable uncontrolled transactions can be located, paragraph 2.15 calls the CUP method the most direct and reliable way to apply the arm's length principle, preferable over all other methods in such cases; and paragraph 2.3 says that where the CUP method and another transfer pricing method can be applied in an equally reliable manner, the CUP method is to be preferred. A quoted price means the commodity price for the relevant period from an international or domestic exchange, transparent price-reporting or statistical agency, or governmental price-setting agency, covering the exchange price as well as quoted premiums or discounts, shipping rates and treatment and refining charges. Only an index that unrelated parties actually use to price transactions between themselves carries weight; where the transactions differ materially, reasonably accurate adjustments restore comparability.

The framework names three comparability factors as particularly relevant when applying the CUP method to related-party mineral sales. Product characteristics come first: the quantity of payable metal, downward adjustments for impurities that raise extraction or refining costs, and upward adjustments for desirable properties and commercially extractable byproducts. Economic circumstances at the time the sales agreement is signed come second: supply and demand, the structure and reputation of buyer and seller, the mine's production history and sovereign risk of the host state. The agreed price must reflect what the market bears while covering marginal cost plus a reasonable profit for the mine owner. Contractual terms come third: volumes transacted, transportation terms, payment terms, insurance, quotation periods, foreign exchange, and treatment and refining charges; the quoted-price factors add the period of the arrangement and the timing, location and terms of delivery.

The seller is tested as it really operates: an associated mining enterprise within a multinational group has the group's market intelligence and sells at the highest price its commercial objectives support, so justifications that the local producer is a weak bargainer with limited capital and must accept a discount fail. Paragraph 2.21 says taxpayers should document their commodity price-setting policy with third-party end-customer contracts and adjustment justifications, while tax administrations protect confidential information. The framework recommends that governments publish a recommended transfer pricing methodology for the minerals most relevant to their mining industry to give taxpayers transparency and advance certainty, noting that governments may use the mineral pricing schedules as a starting point for their own taxpayer guidance

The copper schedule continues the joint OECD/IGF series alongside the earlier bauxite and lithium schedules. The schedule applies the mineral pricing framework outlined in the joint OECD/IGF work Determining the Price of Minerals: A transfer pricing frameworkOecd; the commodity CUP guidance it builds on sits in paragraphs 2.14 to 2.22 of the 2022 OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, which in turn operate under Article 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention.