India’s copper cathodes imports rose by 63.15pc to 131,541mt in 2019, from 75,970mt in 2018. Copper scrap imports into India increased by 27.8pc to 249,429mt, from 195,172mt in 2018.
Copper Cathodes
India’s copper cathodes imports from Japan were 106,853mt in 2019, up from 4,239mt in the prior year. Imports from UAE rose from 602mt to 106,853mt and that from Zambia rose from 860mt to 2,409mt.
India imported 6,652mt from Congo and 4,075mt from Singapore in 2018. Vedanta’s Tuticorin plant closure has turned India into a net importer of copper cathodes, from being a net exporter for the past 18 years.
In Dec 2019, imports went up by 59.73pc to 10,606mt from 6,640mt in Dec2018. India imported 8,471mt from Japan, up from 4,075mt; imports from UAE accounted to 1,860mt, up from 52mt in the prior-year period.
In Dec 2018, imports from Zambia stood at 275mt and that from Congo were at 303mt.
Copper Scrap
In 2019, India’s copper scrap imports rose by 27.8pc to 249,429mt, from 195,172mt in 2018.
India imported the highest volume or 58,154mt from the US in 2019, up from 33,191mt in 2018. Imports from Germany amounted to 25,164mt, up from 14,427mt; imports from Saudi Arabia were 23,442mt, up from 23,153mt; imports from UAE stood at 16,854mt, down by 3,100mt in 2018.
In December, imports were up by 5.78pc to 20,764mt from 19,564mt in Dec 2018. India imported 5,875mt from the US, down from 5,971mt a year ago; imports from the UK were up from1,511mt to 2,521mt, while imports from Saudi India declined from 2,105mt to 1,795mt.