April 11, 2025
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Adani Enterprises to Launch One of the World’s Largest Copper Smelters in India Within Weeks
Adani Enterprises Ltd is on the cusp of a major milestone in India’s industrial landscape, as it prepares to begin operations at what it says will be one of the world’s largest metallurgical complexes for copper and other metals. The facility, located in Mundra, Gujarat, will begin refining copper concentrate within the next four weeks, according to Felipe Williams, the company’s Head of Metals.
Speaking at a conference organized by the International Copper Association in Santiago, Chile, Williams said, “In the next four weeks, we’re starting the largest metallurgical complex of copper and other metals in the world.” The plant, known as Kutch Copper, represents a major step forward in India’s drive to expand its domestic refining capacity and reduce dependence on imports of critical industrial metals.
Commissioning of the smelter began last month, marked by the production of the facility’s first copper anodes. The current phase is just the beginning; Adani has already secured environmental clearances that would allow for significant capacity expansion in the future, Williams noted.
This strategic investment comes at a time of both opportunity and challenge in the global copper market. Demand for copper in India is set to surge as the country, now the fastest-growing major economy in the world, ramps up infrastructure development, industrial output, and clean energy initiatives—all of which are heavily copper-dependent.
Yet, Adani’s entry into the smelting sector coincides with a difficult environment for the industry across Asia. A global tightness in copper concentrate supply has pushed treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs)—key revenue metrics for smelters—into negative territory. These charges are typically paid by miners to smelters to process copper concentrate into refined metal, and when they turn negative, it signals severe pressure on smelters’ profit margins.
“The challenges are big, because today the TC/RCs are negative numbers,” Williams acknowledged. “We would have loved to start our business in a completely different environment, but we need to face reality—this is a long-term opportunity.”
Despite the short-term headwinds, the outlook for copper remains bullish. On Thursday, copper prices rallied sharply following an announcement by the U.S. administration to pause certain tariffs for 90 days, which helped ease investor concerns and sparked renewed interest in industrial metals. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange surged 3.8% to $8,939 per metric ton by 16:15 GMT.
As Kutch Copper prepares to come online, its timing could position Adani Enterprises as a key player in shaping the regional and global copper market for years to come.
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