THE YEAR IN BRIEF
Tuticorin’s copper smelter plant was shut down for FY2021. We continue to engage with the Government of India and relevant authorities to enable the restart of operations at Copper India. We continued to operate our refinery and rod plant at Silvassa, catering to the domestic market.
THE YEAR IN BRIEF
Tuticorin’s copper smelter plant was shut down for FY2021. We continue to engage with the Government of India and relevant authorities to enable the restart of operations at Copper India. We continued to operate our refinery and rod plant at Silvassa, catering to the domestic market.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
The lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) was zero till March 2021 (FY2020: 0).
ENVIRONMENT
Copper Mines of Tasmania continued in care and maintenance awaiting a decision on restart. Meanwhile, a small, dedicated team is maintaining the site and there were no significant safety or environmental incidents during the year.
The site retained its ISO accreditation in safety, environment and quality management systems and the opportunity of a production lull was used to review and further improve these systems.
PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE
| Particulars | FY2021 | FY2020 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production (kt) | |||
| India – cathode | 101 | 77 | 31 |
OPERATIONS
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) vide order, dated 9 April 2018, rejected the consent renewal application of Vedanta Limited for its copper smelter plant at Tuticorin. It directed Vedanta not to resume production operations without formal approval/consent (vide order dated 12 April 2018), and directed the closure of the plant and the disconnection of electricity (vide order dated 23 May 2018).
The Government of Tamil Nadu also issued an order dated 28 May 2018 directing the TNPCB to permanently close and seal the existing copper smelter at Tuticorin; this was followed by the TNPCB on 28 May 2018. Vedanta Limited filed a composite appeal before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against all the above orders passed by the TNPCB and the Government of Tamil Nadu. In December 2018, NGT set aside the impugned orders and directed the TNPCB to renew the CTO. The order passed by the NGT was challenged by the Tamil Nadu State Government in the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
The Company had filed a writ petition before the Madras High Court challenging various orders passed against the Company in 2018 and 2013. On 18 August 2020, the Madras High Court delivered the judgement wherein it dismissed all the writ petitions filed by the Company.
Increase in y-o-y revenue achieved by Sterlite Copper
The Company has approached the Supreme Court and challenged the said High Court order by way of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) to Appeal and also filed an interim relief for care and maintenance of the plant. The matter was then listed on 2 December 2020 before the Supreme Court Bench. The Bench, after having heard both the sides, concluded that at this stage the interim relief in terms of trial run could not be allowed. Further, considering the voluminous nature of documents and pleadings, the matter shall be finally heard on merits. Besides, Hon’ble Supreme Court held that the case will be listed once physical hearing resumes in the Supreme Court. The matter was again mentioned before the Bench on 17 March 2021, wherein the matter was posted for hearing on 17 August 2021.
Meanwhile, the Company’s Silvassa refinery and rod plant continues to operate as usual, enabling us to cater to the domestic market.
Our copper mine in Australia has remained under extended care and maintenance since 2013. However, we continue to evaluate various options for its profitable restart, given the government’s current favourable support and prices.
PRICES
(` crore, unless stated)
| Particulars | FY2021 | FY2020 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average LME cash settlement prices (US$ per tonne) | 6,897 | 5,855 | (18) |
Average LME copper prices increased by 18% compared with FY2020.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
(` crore, unless stated)
| Particulars | FY2021 | FY2020 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 10,890 | 9,053 | 20 |
| EBITDA | (177) | (300) | - |
| EBITDA margin | (2)% | (3)% | - |
During the year, EBITDA was `(177) crore and revenue was `10,890 crore, an increase of 20% on the previous year’s revenue of `9,053 crore. The increase in revenue was mainly due to higher Copper LME prices and higher volume. EBITDA loss decreased to `177 crore on account of increase in sales realisations by 20%.
STRATEGIC PRIORIES & OUTLOOK
Over the following year our focus and priorities will be to:
PORT BUSINESS
Vizag General Cargo Berth (VGCB)
During FY2021, VGCB operations showed a decline of 29% in discharge and 25% in dispatch compared to FY2020. This drop was mainly due to worldwide lockdown during the pandemic and Government of India’s initiatives towards curtailing import coal volumes and encouraging domestic coal production or consumption. This has resulted in ~26% reduction of import coal volumes in the Vizag region and ~12% across India on a y-o-y basis.
