Codelco strikes copper deal with Adani amid tariff threat

Chile’s state-owned Codelco, the world’s top copper producer, has agreed to supply metal concentrate to India’s Adani Group for its $1.2-billion smelter, expanding its market reach as the US considers a 25% tariff on copper imports.

Shipments will begin this year, Codelco announced following a meeting between its chairman, Máximo Pacheco, and Adani Group’s Gautam Adani at the conglomerate’s headquarters in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Adani’s Kutch Copper smelter — the world’s largest single-location plant of its kind — has struggled with its ramp-up since launching last year, as the global copper market faces its worst concentrate shortage in decades. 

India’s copper imports have soared since the 2018 closure of Vedanta ‘s Sterlite smelter, which had a capacity of 400,000 tonnes. The country’s only domestic producers are Hindalco Industries, part of the Aditya Birla Group, and state-run Hindustan Copper.

With copper smelters worldwide grappling with ore shortages, Adani’s plant is among a wave of new facilities straining global supply. Smelting fees — payments to processors for refining concentrate into metal — have dropped below zero, according to Fastmarkets data.

The Kutch smelter, which has a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum (ktpa) and the potential to expand to 1 million tpa, entered a joint venture last month to produce wires and cables, increasing its exposure to the downstream copper supply chain.

“Given the persistent tightness in the concentrate market, we expect more smelters to focus on securing their medium- and long-term concentrate supply,” BMO Capital Markets said in a note on Wednesday.

Codelco also signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Hindustan Copper Ltd. to collaborate on exploration and processing, further deepening its ties with India’s mining sector.