Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc rally up to 10%, scale 52-week highs

In the past month, the stock of Vedanta has zoomed 37 per cent, against 7 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex

Shares of Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc rallied up to 10 per cent on the BSE on Wednesday in an otherwise subdued market.

Hindustan Zinc soared 10 per cent to Rs 278.75, on the back of two-fold jump in trading volumes, while Vedanta share rose 6 per cent to Rs 179 on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.24 per cent at 48,326 points. Vedanta, the promoter, holds 64.92 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc.

In the past one month, the stock of Vedanta has zoomed 37 per cent, against 7 per cent rise in the benchmark index. On December 24, 2020, Vedanta Holdings Mauritius II Limited, the promoter group company, had purchased 185 million equity shares aggregating to 4.98 per cent of the equity share capital of Vedanta, through a bulk deal on the stock exchanges.

Meanwhile, Vedanta, on December 30, announced that it has emerged as the highest bidder for the Radhikapur West coal block, located in Angul district, Odisha at a distance of about 190 km from the Company’s Jharsuguda Aluminium Smelter.

The coal block is an optimal fit for the Jharsuguda smelter given its logistical location and annual capacity. The mine has total reserves of 312 million tonnes and an approved per annum extraction capacity of 6 million tonnes. Once operational, it will provide fuel security, improve power availability and further strengthen the Company’s Aluminium and Power operations and performance.

The management of Hindustan Zinc expects that zinc metal supply will match up to its demand and while the warehouse stocks may trend up in the near term, the zinc price will find support from lower mine and smelter production this year. Both supply and demand are expected to recover in 2021 as the impact of pandemic fades and normalcy returns.

Mine production is likely to rebound in CY 2021, bringing the lead market back into balance. Rising adoption of lead-acid batteries due to their lower cost of storage, improved charging time and energy transfer rate will boost demand for lead over the next few years, Hindustan Zinc said in 2019-20 annual report.