Refined copper demand likely to grow 11% in FY24 on infra boost: ICRA

Significant emphasis on the defence sector, and the expected higher penetration of electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure bode well for the domestic copper demand outlook

India's refined copper demand is likely to grow 11 per cent in the current financial year on the back of the government's thrust on infrastructure development and a gradual transition to green energy, ICRA said on Monday.

The rating agency further said it expects a stable outlook for the country's domestic sector.

"ICRA projects copper prices to remain range-bound at current levels of 8,2008,300/tonne in the near term," it said in a statement.

It further said that the allocation of Rs 10 lakh crore for capital spending in the last Union Budget, coupled with ambitious targets set under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), is likely to drive copper consumption in the medium term.

In addition, in the real estate sector, significant incremental supply growth of 30 per cent in the top six Indian office space markets and 10 per cent growth in retail mall space is likely in FY'24, which is likely to spur copper wire demand.

Significant emphasis by the government on the smart city programme, the defence sector, and the expected higher penetration of electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure bode well for the domestic copper demand outlook, Jayanta Roy, Senior Vice President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA, said.

"In addition, the government's ambitious target to achieve 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2032 would entail significant capacity addition in the transmission network, including for substations and electrical machinery, in the coming decade, translating into a healthy domestic copper demand," Roy said.