What is stopping Indian copper demand from rapid growth?

Following a speaking engagement at the International Copper Development Centre's annual conference in Mumbai in February, Wood Mackenzie took the opportunity to visit major players in India’s copper industry, including cable, winding wire, air-conditioner producers and various copper semis fabricators. Through these visits, we were able to identify several factors that have been constraining copper consumption growth in the country. In this insight, we also take a step further to analyse the risks associated with these factors on our base case copper demand forecast for India. Key findings: - Copper end users' preference for using aluminium in power cables, and an incomplete supply chain in air-conditioner industry are key factors constraining copper demand in India. - India's existing free-trade agreements with neighbouring countries coupled with high financing costs preventing investors from building new domestic copper semis capacity.