Copper producers face uneven playing field

India’s two major producers of refined copper, Vedanta and Hindalco, must be drawing comfort from a Reuters report of an impromptu meeting of representatives of ten members of Chinese smelters purchase team (CSPT) in Shanghai earlier last month reaching the conclusion that the world would not encounter any shortage of copper concentrate in 2018. CSPT says that the supply of copper concentrate will be enough to meet the global requirements of smelters. In fact, there could be a “little surplus,” but any talk of a deficit is unfounded. 

What prompted CSPT to undertake a separate comprehensive analysis of evolving demand