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Source: India's JSW will build a copper smelter with 0.5 million tonnes of capacity.

Source: India's JSW will build a copper smelter with 0.5 million tonnes of capacity.

Sources familiar with the matter confirmed on Thursday that India's JSW Group, a steel-to power conglomerate, plans to build a copper smelter of 500,000 metric tons capacity in the eastern state Odisha before 2028/29 using copper concentrates from Peru and Chile as feedstock.

JSW announced in January that it would be entering the copper industry with a 26 billion rupee investment ($301.22 millions) to operate two mines of copper from Hindustan Copper over a 20-year period, with an option to extend the agreement for another decade.

Source declined to identify themselves as the details of the proposed smelter were not made public. The group plans to invest 120 billion rupees to build its own smelter in Odisha and increase the capacity by 1 million metric tonnes by 2033/34.

JSW's spokesperson directed all questions to the January announcement about the copper foray.

JSW's expansion will put it in direct competition with the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's group, which has built a copper smelter worth $1.2 billion, the largest single-location plant for its kind in Gujarat, a western state.

Source: JSW intends to use the copper produced by the smelter for its electric vehicle and batteries manufacturing facilities. Hindustan Copper will provide some of the concentrate, according to the source.

Sources claim that Pankaj Kumar will travel to Chile in early January to meet with potential copper concentrate suppliers.

India, which relies on imports of copper to cover shortfalls, has listed copper as one of the 30 critical minerals for 2023, in order to support the country's transition towards green energy.

India's imports of copper have risen since Vedanta closed its Sterlite Copper Smelter in 2018, which produced around 400,000 metric tonnes of the metal.

At present, only Hindalco Industries (part of the Aditya Birla Group in India) and Hindustan Copper Ltd, a state-owned miner, produce copper.

India's refined production of copper is estimated to be around 555,000 tons per annum, compared with the domestic consumption of over 750,000 tons. India imports 500,000 metric tonnes of copper per year to make up for the deficit.

According to estimates, New Delhi's move towards electric vehicles and clean energy, as well as other similar changes, is expected to double the copper demand of the country by 2030.

(source: Reuters)