NEW DELHI, May 18 (Reuters) – Vedanta Resources Plc’s shutdown of its South Indian copper smelter, one of India’s biggest, is causing a copper deficit and increased prices in India.
The smelter, located in a sleepy port city near the tip of the Indian peninsula, has a share of about 35 percent in the India’s primary copper market and exports mainly to Gulf and Asian countries, Vedanta says.
The unit has been shut for more than 50 days.
“Due to non-availability of our production, there is a deficit of copper supply in the country impacting prices and availability,” Vedanta Ltd said in a statement on Friday.
(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Alexander Smith)
