London 16/09/2016 - Sterlite Industry, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, has encountered some technical issues at its Tuticorin copper smelter in southern India which will affect production, according to a source close to the company.
"Their copper production will be affected by the issue but there is no confirmation on the exact tonnages," the source said.
The company is carrying out an investigation into the problem which occured at the plant this week. More clarity on production losses is expected early next week.
"Sterlite now needs to purchase less copper concentrates and shoudn't be active in the spot market until the end of this year," the source added.
The smelter has a nameplate capacity of 400,000 tonnes of copper cathodes per year and also has capacity of 250,000 tonnes of copper rod per annum.
Spot treatment charges and refining charges (TC/RC) were last at $102-106 per tonne/10.2-10.6 cents per pound at the start of September for sales to smelters, the highest since 2016, due to ample availability of concentrates.
(Edited by Perrine Faye)