FROM THE EDITOR
MINING
BADSHAH
http://www.businesstoday.in
Editor-in-Chief: Aroon Purie
Group Editorial Director: Raj Chengappa
I
Editor: Prosenjit Datta
Group Creative Editor: Nilanjan Das, Group Photo Editor: Bandeep Singh
Managing Editor: Rajeev Dubey
Deputy Editors: Venkatesha Babu, Anand Adhikari
I
SPECIAL PROJECTS AND EVENTS
Senior Editor: Anup Jayaram
I
C
CORRESPONDENTS
ommodity prices have risen sharply in the past year and a
half. Global zinc prices have more than doubled. Aluminium
prices have shot up, and so have copper prices. Crude oil,
which had plunged to $26-27 a barrel in early 2016, has
crossed $60 a barrel.
With commodity prices on a roll, Anil Agarwal is raking
it in. He is the world’s second-biggest producer of zinc, and
has significant interests in aluminium, copper and oil (through
Cairn). He is ramping up production and all his businesses are
throwing up cash like never before.
Call it the commodity cycle or call it luck, Anil Agarwal is ideally
poised in the current market conditions. But a few years ago, things
were going wrong for him. Global oil prices had started softening in
2014, and then in 2015, went into a free fall. Agarwal, whose cost of
production of crude oil from Cairn’s fields is roughly $40 a barrel,
was squeezed. Meanwhile, despite his company, Vedanta Alumina
Ltd, forming a joint venture with Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd to
mine bauxite from Niyamgiri hills, Agarwal could not initiate the
project. Objections from the villagers on environmental and other
grounds put the proposal in cold storage by 2014.
Agarwal tried running his aluminium factory in Lanjigarh in
Odisha using imported bauxite but had to shut the factory for some
time. The cost of raw material had made aluminium production in
Lanjigarh unviable. His image had also taken a bit of knock because
of the dispute in Niyamgiri.
Through this period, Agarwal kept investing in increasing
production and getting better prices. Zinc prices held up, though,
and that kept him profitable, but the big climb was to start later.
Zinc prices have doubled since the beginning of 2016 and now
hover around $3,000 a tonne. Aluminium prices have also gone up
from $1,450 a tonne to over $2,000 a tonne as China has
shuttered quite a lot of capacity. The Chinese government also
gave a stimulus, which increased the demand for these products,
even as supply was getting squeezed. This led to the spectacular rally
in zinc, aluminium and copper, which saw Agarwal smiling all the
way to the bank.
What now for Agarwal? He is not content to just ride the
boom but has doubled efforts to increase production in all his
businesses while bringing costs down. He wants to be a top player
in commodities, right up there with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
He is also on the prowl for distressed companies he can pick up in
commodities.
Senior Editors: P.B. Jayakumar, Nevin John, Goutam Das,
Mahesh Nayak, Ajita Shashidhar, Joe C. Mathew
Senior Associate Editors: E. Kumar Sharma, Anilesh Mahajan,
Dipak Mondal
Associate Editors: Manu Kaushik,
Sumant Banerji
Senior Assistant Editor: Nidhi Singal
Special Correspondent: Sonal Khetarpal
I
RESEARCH
Principal Research Analysts: Niti Kiran, Avneet Kaur
I
COPY DESK
Senior Editors: Rishi Joshi, Mahesh Jagota
Associate Editor: Sanghamitra Mandal
Assistant Editor: Sapna Nair Purohit
Chief Copy Editor: Gadadhar Padhy
Senior Sub Editor: Devika Singh
I
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photo Editor: Vivan Mehra
Deputy Chief Photographer: Shekhar Ghosh
Principal Photographers: Rachit Goswami, Nilotpal Baruah
Senior Photo Researcher: Sudhansh Sharma
I
ART
Assistant Creative Editor: Safia Zahid
Associate Art Directors : Amit Sharma, Ajay Thakuri
Assistant Art Director: Rajkumar Wahi
Chief Designers: Vikas Gupta, Raj Verma
Senior Designers: Devender Singh Rawat, Mohammed Shahid
I
PRODUCTION
Chief of Production: Harish Aggarwal
Senior Production Coordinators: Narendra Singh,
Rajesh Verma
I
LIBRARY
Assistant Librarian: Satbir Singh
I
Publishing Director: Manoj Sharma
Associate Publisher (Impact): Anil Fernandes
I
IMPACT TEAM
Senior General Manager: Jitendra Lad (West)
General Manager: Upendra Singh (Bangalore)
Kaushiky Gangulie (East)
I
Marketing: Vivek Malhotra, Group Chief Marketing Officer;
Vipul Hoon, General Manager; Reynold Robert, Brand Manager
I
Newsstand Sales: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager;
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales); Vipin Bagga, Deputy
General Manager (Operations); Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager
(North); Arokia Raj L, Regional Sales Manager (South)
Vol. 26, No. 24, for the fortnight November 20 to
December 3, 2017. Released on November 20, 2017.
Editorial Office: India Today Mediaplex, FC 8, Sector 16/A, Film City, Noida-201301; Tel: 0120-4807100; Fax:
0120-4807150 Advertising Office (Gurgaon): A1-A2, Enkay Centre, Ground Floor, V.N. Commercial Complex,
Udyog Vihar, Phase 5, Gurgaon-122001; Tel: 0124-4948400; Fax: 0124-4030919; Mumbai: 1201, 12th Floor, Tower 2
A, One Indiabulls Centre (Jupiter Mills), S.B. Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai-400013; Tel: 022-66063355; Fax:
022-66063226; Chennai: 5th Floor, Main Building No. 443, Guna Complex, Anna Salai, Teynampet, Chennai-600018;
Tel: 044-28478525; Fax: 044-24361942; Bangalore: 202-204 Richmond Towers, 2nd Floor, 12, Richmond Road,
Bangalore-560025; Tel: 080-2