Refile: Vedanta sells down Sterlite copper concentrate stockpiles -sources

China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining

26/02/2019 11:08

(Removes 'HOLD' from headline)
    By Sudarshan Varadhan and Tom Daly
    NEW DELHI/BEIJING, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd  VDAN.NS 
is selling down copper concentrate stocks from its Sterlite
smelter in southern India, looking to cut costs at the plant
ordered permanently shut in May, company and government sources
told Reuters last week. 
    The Thoothukudi plant was ordered shut by the Tamil Nadu
state government after protests against alleged pollution
culminated in police killing 13 demonstrators.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z823O 
    Federal elections are due in May, and the two main political
parties in Tamil Nadu are against reopening the smelter,
increasing the likelihood that the shutdown will continue. 
    "Vedanta has disposed of 55,000 tonnes of copper
concentrate, and has about 35,000 tonnes left, which will be
disposed of soon," one of the government officials told Reuters.
    The official could not be named because he was not
authorised to speak publicly. 
    Vedanta shipped the copper concentrate in two cargoes to
Chinese buyers, one of 25,000 tonnes in late December, and
another of 30,000 tonnes in late January, according to two
company sources and two shipping industry sources. 
    Vedanta plans to sell soon the remaining 35,000 tonnes of
concentrate left at the 400,000 tonne-per-year smelter, one of
Asia's biggest outside China, said three Indian government
sources. The sources declined to be named because they were not
authorized to speak to the media. 
    "Inventory of concentrate will be liquidated in line with
our commercial protocols and as per the direction of district
administration," Vedanta said in a statement, giving no further
details. 
    An official at Daye Nonferrous Metals Group  0661.HK , one
of China's top copper smelters, said his company had taken a
cargo of Vedanta's concentrate at the port of Nanjing, without
specifying how much. 

 (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in NEW DELHI and Tom Daly in
BEIJING; Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE;
Editing by Tom Hogue)
 ((Sudarshan.Varadhan@thomsonreuters.com; +911149548059;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/turvytopsy @turvytopsy; Reuters
Messaging: sudarshan.varadhan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))