India May Become Net Importer Of Copper By 2010

India may become a net importer of copper in the next three to four years because of rising demand and slow production growth, a senior industry official said.

“At present, India consumes around 0.5 million metric tons of copper every year, but our production is around 1 million tons, which leaves a surplus of 0.5 million tons for exports.But the situation is likely to change in the coming few years as demand is rising, but supplies are not keeping pace with it,” Kishore Kumar, chief executive of Sterlite Industries, told
reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

Sterlite Industries, one of India’s leading copper producing companies, is a unit of the London-listed Vedanta Resources.

Kumar said that the country’s annual copper demand is expected to double by 2010-2012.