The Adani Kutch Copper plant, a new smelter owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, began operations this week, reported Bloomberg, citing sources.
The plant in Gujarat began processing mined ores despite previous delays caused by a global shortage of feedstock.
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The move is part of a broader initiative to reduce India’s dependence on imported copper.
The facility, with an initial capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), was initially due to begin in 2024 but faced setbacks due to smelter expansions worldwide.
Adani Enterprises launched the first phase in March last year, with ambitions to expand the capacity to one million tonnes (mt) by the end of fiscal year 2029.
According to the report, raw materials are currently being fed into the plant, although it is anticipated that it could take up to 18 months to reach full operational capacity, significantly longer than the typical two-to-three-month ramp-up period.
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By GlobalDataTo function at full scale, the smelter would need approximately 1.6mt of concentrated copper ores.
A spokesperson for Adani Enterprises confirmed that the Kutch Copper smelter is now operational and is working towards achieving peak capacity.
The challenge of securing concentrates has been a global issue for smelters, exacerbated by the influx of new plants and the consequent decline in processing margins.
The increase in smelting capacity is partly due to new integrated plants in mining operations in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which have reduced the availability of concentrates for other smelters, the report said.
Furthermore, the rapid expansion of stand-alone smelters that procure their raw materials from the open market has also contributed to the shortage.
This includes the Adani plant and several significant operations in China, such as the new 500,000tpa copper smelter launched by Tongling Nonferrous Metals earlier this year.
