Hindalco to reopen copper smelter in early June

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Hindalco Industries Ltd, India's No. 2 copper producer, will reopen its Birla smelter in early June after a month-long shutdown that has tightened supply of the red metal in the country, Managing Director D. Bhattacharya said.

The company, controlled by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, shut the plant on May 7 for maintenance, exacerbating a shortage that began in late March after rival Sterlite Industries shut its smelter over complaints of emissions.

Hindalco's Birla smelter and Sterlite's Tuticorin smelter account for about 90 percent of India's total copper output of 690,000 tonnes.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra, editing by Anurag Kotoky)