Negative growth in telecom cable affects domestic copper demand

New Delhi, Nov 26 (UNI) The prospects for the domestic copper market has been negatively impacted due to negative growth in jelly filled telecom cable (JFTC) segment, which accounts for 35 per cent of the total demand.

In addition, the industry is also disadvantaged as non-value added imports from Sri Lanka under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) continue to adversely impact the domestic sales, an ICRA analysis shows.

However, growth in winding wire and transformer industry has offset to some extent the negative impact and the increased exports of downstream products from India continue to support higher deemed export sale.

The country's copper demand is expected to increase at an annual rate of 7-8 per cent per annum over the short-term from the current per capita consumption of 0.3 kg per annum.

Total availability of copper in the country is projected at about 0.97 mt from the current financial year, including domestic supply of 0.722 mt, and imports of 0.245 mt.

The demand supply balance is expected to deteriorate further, as with the current expansion projects, the installed capacity for copper cathodes is expected to increase, analysis said.

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