India turns net copper importer for first time in 18 yrs
MUMBAI: India became a net importer of copper for the first time in 18 years in 2018-19 as the closure of Vedanta’s copper smelter in Tuticorin wiped out more than 46% of the country’s production of the base metal, said a research report. As a result, imports of refined copper shot up to touch Rs 14,000 crore last year, according to experts.This has dealt a heavy blow to downstream copper products makers such as copper wire makers and motor manufacturers, for whom raw material cost makes for a lion’s share of their total cost of production.“Valuable foreign exchange is going out of the country and our cost of production has increased by about 1%, but even a 1% increase amounts to a lot in downstream manufacturing since more than 90% of our cost is incurred on raw materials,” said Shyam Sundar Rathi, chairman of Vidya Wires — a local manufacturer of copper wires.Rathi said even with a slight slowdown in demand for the metal in the past 3-4 months, there is still a shortfall of supply.A research report by Care Ratings said domestic production of refined copper grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% between 2013-14 and 2017-18.
India turns net copper importer for first time in 18 yrs
MUMBAI: India became a net importer of copper for the first time in 18 years in 2018-19 as the closure of Vedanta’s copper smelter in Tuticorin wiped out more than 46% of the country’s production of the base metal, said a research report. As a result, imports of refined copper shot up to touch Rs 14,000 crore last year, according to experts.This has dealt a heavy blow to downstream copper products makers such as copper wire makers and motor manufacturers, for whom raw material cost makes for a lion’s share of their total cost of production.“Valuable foreign exchange is going out of the country and our cost of production has increased by about 1%, but even a 1% increase amounts to a lot in downstream manufacturing since more than 90% of our cost is incurred on raw materials,” said Shyam Sundar Rathi, chairman of Vidya Wires — a local manufacturer of copper wires.Rathi said even with a slight slowdown in demand for the metal in the past 3-4 months, there is still a shortfall of supply.A research report by Care Ratings said domestic production of refined copper grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% between 2013-14 and 2017-18.