Vedanta's Dubai unit exporting copper to Sterlite's India clients

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Vedanta Resources Plc's Dubai unit is exporting 4,000 tonnes of refined copper a month to customers of Sterlite Industries, whose copper smelter was shut after complaints of emissions, Sterlite's copper business chief said.

Sterlite Industries is a unit of London-listed resources conglomerate Vedanta Resources, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal.

Private traders have also doubled copper imports to about 8,000 tonnes per month to bridge the shortfall after the plant closure in March, P. Ramnath, chief executive of Sterlite Copper, told Reuters on Thursday.

Imports started soon after the shutdown of the smelter, he said.

Sterlite's copper smelter meets half of India's demand for the metal, and a near seven-week closure of the plant has tightened supply of refined copper and driven up prices to industry. The plant produces 30,000 tonnes of refined copper a month and nearly half of the output goes to China.

The smelter would remain shut until at least May 22 when a court would resume hearing into complaints of emissions.

(Reporting by Krishna Das; writing by Mayank Bhardwaj; editing by Malini Menon)