Hindustan Copper Confident Of Maintaining 40% Margins As AI Data Centres Become Its Largest Consumer
This comes against the backdrop of copper prices rallying significantly in 2026, with Singh attributing the momentum to a 'drastic' increase in consumption that has outpaced stagnant global production
At a time when global copper prices surging to record highs amid demand overflow and tighetening supply deficit, Hindustan Copper has largely emerged as the main beneficiary, with the state-owned miner targeting sustainble Ebitda margin of over 40%.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV Profit, Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Kumar Singh offered a bullish outlook for Hind Copper in 2026, as he explained how the company has faced an unexpected demand surge from the rise of artificial intelligence and green energy projects.
This shift has led to positive sentiment in Hind Copper, which has been evident in the way the stock has jumped triple digits in 2025. Talking about the stock price movements, Singh quantified the impact of rising global commodity rates and how it is directly linked to the miner's bottom line.
“If the LME price rises $100, we roughly get a profitability of Rs 20 to 25 crore,” Singh said. “So that is our estimate... for every rise of $100, we roughly generate a profit of Rs 20 to 25 crore.”
This comes against the backdrop of copper prices rallying significantly in 2026, with Singh attributing the momentum to a 'drastic' increase in consumption that has outpaced stagnant global production.
The AI Data Centre And Green Energy Supercycle
The main driver of the copper demand has been the AI-led data centres as well as the proliferation of green energy projects in recent years.
“AI data centers were not in the picture in the last six months; they have become the largest user of copper."Sanjiv Kumar Singh, CMD, Hindustan COpper
“Things are on the supply side very tough, and demand is increasing day by day. Electric vehicles, mobiles, infrastructure, windmills, renewables... in fact, anything green which you talk about consumes copper."
He added, “I can say proudly that copper is empowering the energy of not only India but the globe.”
Hindustan Copper is also looking to address the widening domestic deficit, as the company currently meets only about 4-5% of the nation's needs.
As such, the miner is aggressively expanding its capacity. Singh detailed a strategy to triple production from current 4 million tonnes to 12.2 million tonnes.
Hindustan Copper's rapid production is backed by a robust capital expenditure plan spread across India's major copper belts. Explaining the investment allocation, Singh said the Malanjkhand project in Madhya Pradesh has been alloted Rs 2,000 crore while Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 1,000 crore has been alloted for mines in Rajasthan and Jharkhand respectively.
Margins and Market Outlook
On the financial side, Singh projected confidence in maintaining strong oeprational margins, depsite the inherent volatility in commodity markets.
“We’ll try to maintain more than 40% here... we’ll try to maintain that 40% barrier,” Singh said regarding EBITDA margins.
The CMD also clarified that Hindustan Copper does not hedge its production, preferring to sell on a spot basis to capture market upside.
With copper prices currently hovering above the $12,000 mark in this cycle, Singh dismissed concerns about a price correction in the near term.
“Supply constraints have already come up in the last six months and in the further coming six to eight months it will be maintained,” Singh said.
When pressed for a final outlook on where copper prices are headed for the remainder of 2026, Singh remained unequivocal.
“It has to remain tight,” he said.
