Page 187 - CW E-Magazine (24-10-2023)

Special Report

India shall have around 470,000- as smelters and sulphur burners shall ask is: Will smelters start charging pre-
tonnes of surplus acid starting 2025. attempt to entice the same set of con- mium after getting into long term memo-
This acid shall find home outside sumers. The entities having an ability randum of understanding? Only time
India if overseas prices remain to sustain adverse situations and hav- can tell, but looking at market dynam-
stronger than at home. ing prudent financial strategies shall ics it seems very unlikely.
If this acid had to stay put in India, emerge victorious. While smelters will
one can expect either captive or be the last entities to give up in this Smelter acid shall continue to be
commercial sulphur burners reduc- race, end-users will also tie up for long an integral part of the growing Indian
ing their operating rates, and some term relationship with smelters. Smel- chemical and fertiliser industries. The
can even be forced to shut. ters, except Hindustan Zinc, are located association between smelters and end-
near ports: Vedanta’s copper smelter users will shift from transactional to
ConClUSIon is near Tuticorin port; Hindalco’s win-win strategic relationships.
Indian chemical industry is grow- Birla Copper unit is near the port of
ing and making its mark on the global Dahej; and Adani’s Kutch Copper is ReFeRenCeS
stage. Sulphuric acid being a basic at Mundra port. 1. Roman Fediuk, YH Mugahed
raw material has immense importance. Amran, A Critical Review on the Pro-
While is produced by sulphur burn- While smelters would love to meet perties and Applications of Sulfur-
ers and smelters, the former constitute domestic demand of sulphuric acid, Based Concrete, October 2020.
more than 90% of world sulphuric acid they have an option to supply acid 2. Francisco García-Labiano, Luis
production. Hence cost of production of not only to fertiliser manufacturers in F. de dego, Arturo Cabello, Pilar
sulphuric acid by sulphur burning is the Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Gayan, Alberto Abad, Juan Adanez,
influencing, if not the deciding, factor Nadu and South Karnataka, but also Gerals Sprachmann, Sulphuric
of sulphuric acid pricing. The premium across the globe by sea routes. To this acid production via Chemical
charged, by both sulphur burners and effect, smelters’ position seems little Looping Combustion of elemental
smelters over the cost of production, less dire than sulphur burners. sulphur.
keeps changing and quite drastically as 3. Archives of Birla Copper, Unit of
a response to the situation. The only question end-users might Hindalco Industries Ltd.

With increasing capacity of sulphu- ABoUt AUthor
ric acid generation in India, Indian im-
ports are expected to dwindle Further, Nikhil Supekar is working as Assistant Vice President at Birla
Indian demand for sulphuric acid shall Copper, Dahej, a unit of Hindalco Industries Ltd. He has more than
be strong enough to accommodate sul- 20 years of experience in various industries, including chemical by-
phuric acid generated across the coun- products, refined metals, non-ferrous metals scrap and supply chain
try. If domestic demand declines, sul- management. Nikhil has a special interest in the speciality chemicals
phuric acid consumers stand to gain, sector, and believes this sector is yet to see a lifetime high capex.
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Chemical Weekly October 24, 2023 187

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