Zinc International deal with Vedanta off the table; Indian demand offsets global demand dip: HZL CEO

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc, says the annual general meeting is over and there is no chance of taking that decision which was taken in the board to make it effective. So if at all it has to happen, it has to come as a fresh proposal and a fresh decision. Right now, there is no such proposal for consideration of the board.

Sequentially, Hindustan Zinc revenues have seen a dip and this is primarily due to the fall in the zinc prices. How has the demand been in the zinc market both domestically as well as globally? At the end of Q1, you said you had expected the zinc prices to rise by the end of the year. Given the volatility in prices, do you still believe zinc prices are poised to go higher?
Let us start with global first.

Globally the demand has not been as per our liking. The slowness in demand pickup is still there in Europe. The US has also not grown very fast.

The China recovery has not happened. But in the middle of all that, the Indian economy is a bright star and in India demand is very strong and we have got the best of the domestic sales.
Even in September we have sold one of the highest numbers in domestic sales in the month of September.

So, demand is strong in India but till the time globally the demand picks up, the LME is not going to correct which is currently at $2400 per ton. My expectation is that for the next 4 to 5 months, it will still be range bound between $2400 and $2600 per ton. However, remaining profitable up to the extent of an EBITDA percentage of 46% at $2400 per ton shows our ability to cut costs in the face of low LME.