India's refined copper imports drop 16% m-o-m in Jan'23

India's import of semi-finished and finished copper products stood at 49,085 tonne (t) in January 2023, down from 55,516 t in December 2022, or 12% m-o-m.

Semi-finished products

Imports fell by 24% m-o-m to 25,451 t in January from 33,276 t in the previous month. Vedanta, Hindalco and Polycab India were the top three importers of semi-finished products.

Anode: Imports of anodes stood at 16,895 t in January, down by 28% m-o-m from 23,321 t in December.

Cathode: 5,518 t of refined cathode was imported in January, a decrease of 16% from 6,586 t in December 2022.

Billets: The quantity of billets imported by India in January 2023 was negligible.

Finished products

On the other hand, India's imports of finished copper products rose by 6% m-o-m to 23,634 t in January compared to 22,240 t in December.

Finished longs: Total imports of finished long products stood at at 6,349 t in January out of which imports of wire was 5,566 t in (up 24%) followed by bars, rods and profiles at 783 t (down 2%) m-o-m in January.

Savli Copper Products, the top importer, bought 2,705 t of copper wires in January.

Finished flats: Total imports of finished flat products stood at 13,427 t in January, of which pipes and tubes were at 10,497 t (up 17%), foils at 1,570 t (up 16%) followed by plates, sheets and strips at 1,360 t (down 19%) m-o-m.

Amber Enterprises (India) (1,982 t), Samsung India Electronics (1,468 t) and LG Electronics India (1,369 t) were the top three importers of copper tubes in January.

Outlook

The global copper market is facing challenges due to supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 and the shift towards renewable energy technologies. China's power shortages may also impact its copper demand. India's copper market has been affected by rising prices, and the government plans to create a copper reserve to stabilise prices and boost domestic production.

The country's focus on electric vehicles and renewable energy sources is expected to increase copper demand in the long term, although January saw mixed trends in imports.