India becomes net copper importer for the fifth year in a row

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic Geography

Context:

India’s copper imports witnessed a 15 per cent year-on-year jump in financial year 2022-23.

Details:

From a net exporter of 335,000 tonnes in 2017-18, India became a net importer of copper, first in 2018-19 and the trend remains unaltered till 2021-22.
During the April-October period of the current fiscal also, India’s import at 88,000 tonnes was higher than exports of 16,000 tonnes.
Major cause:
- Domestic copper production fell significantly from FY2019 onwards as a result of shutdown of the Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin.
- Lower refined production created a huge deficit in the domestic copper market, resulting in large imports for fifth year in a row.
Given the healthy copper demand outlook in the domestic market, the deficit situation is unlikely to improve in the near term.

Production and consumption pattern:

While production steadily fell since Sterlite’s unit closure and the trend continued till FY21, there was a rise in production last fiscal but it was well short of the 2017-18 level.
Consumption has been on the upswing, largely due to demand from electrical, electronics, infrastructure and electric vehicle segments.
Government’s thrust on infrastructure and rapid offtake of electric vehicles, domestic demand for copper would go up by 10-11% in the next two years.

About Copper:

Nuggets of the metal could be found in streams in a few areas, and its properties allowed it to be easily worked without a required processing step.
Copper’s metallic lustre attracted people’s attention. Today most copper is produced from sulfide ores.
Copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity.
Large amounts are also used to make alloys such as brass (copper and zinc) and bronze (copper, tin, and zinc). Copper is also alloyed with precious metals such as gold and silver.
Major producer:
- Chile is the world’s largest producer of copper, three of the world’s ten largest copper mines based on capacity are located there.

Major copper-producing states in India:
- Copper production in India is only about 2 percent of world copper production.
- Madhya Pradesh is the leading producer of copper in India.
- It accounts for producing 53% of copper in this country.
- Rajasthan accounts for 43%, and Jharkhand accounts for 4% of copper production in India.
- The global ranking is 4th in smelter production and 7th in refined copper consumption.
Five largest copper mines in India:
- Malanjkhand Mine, Madhya Pradesh
- Khetri mine, Rajasthan
- Kolihan mine, Rajasthan
- Surda mine, Jharkhand
- Banwas mine, Rajasthan