Chile's Codelco to supply copper concentrate to India's Adani Group-owned smelter

(Reuters) - Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said on Wednesday it would supply copper concentrates to India's Adani Group's $1.2 billion smelter, the world's biggest single-location plant of its type.

The supply will begin this year, said Codelco, whose chairman, Maximo Pacheco, met Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani at the conglomerate's headquarters in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat.

Kutch Copper, as the smelter is formally known, is also located in Gujarat and its executives had told Reuters it would source concentrates from Chile and other countries.

The smelter began operations a year ago and last month entered into a joint venture to make wires and cables.

India's copper imports have surged since the 2018 closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper smelter, which produced about 400,000 metric tons of the metal.

Currently, only Hindalco Industries, part of India's Aditya Birla group, and state-run miner Hindustan Copper produce copper in the country.

Codelco also separately signed a preliminary agreement with Hindustan Copper to cooperate on exploring and processing minerals.

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)