Nalco turns world's cheapest alumina producer

Public sector aluminium firm National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has achieved the rare distinction of becoming the world's cheapest alumina producer.

"Nalco is now the cheapest alumina producer in the world. We have cut alumina making cost by $30-40 per tonne", said Nalco's chairman and managing director (CMD) T K Chand.

Chand said, Nalco started its focus on cost reduction since August 2015 when it unveiled its new business plan to buck the slowdown in global aluminium industry.

Nalco's alumina production cost has fallen to $190 a tonne compared to the global benchmark of $220-230 per tonne.

"Nalco has emphasized on cost curtailment and productivity improvement. Our single flight conveyor system measuring 14.6 km and transporting bauxite from the captive mines to the Damanjodi refinery has helped us scale down cost. Besides, Nalco's efficiency in extraction of alumina hydrate and focus on cost economics by raising volume of output has contributed to the fall in alumina manufacturing cost. We have also improved upon consumption of energy and raw materials through continuous monitoring at all levels", Chand said.

The navratna company also hopes to trim its aluminium production cost by around Rs 500 per tonne in a couple of years.

"We expect to begin coal production from Utkal D mine in two years. Availability of coal from this block would help us reduce our production cost by about INR 500 a tonne", he said.

Nalco recently signed the allocation agreement for these two coal blocks with combined capacity of over 200 million tonne. The company is investing INR 2000 crore on development of these blocks.

Unfazed by the downturn in the global aluminium industry, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is eyeing higher production of bauxite and alumina in his fiscal to beat margin erosion.

Nalco CMD had earlier announced the company would achieve the target of producing 6.82 million tonne of bauxite this fiscal, an increase of 7.1 per cent and 2.15 million tonne of alumina, an increase of 9.2 per cent as compared to last fiscal.

Nalco registered 10.47 per cent growth in its bauxite production at 6.3 million tonne (mt) in 2015-16. Its alumina production was higher by 5.51 per cent at 1.95 mt. The navratna PSU also produced 0.37 mt of aluminium metal, posting an increase of 13.79 per cent, including the highest-ever production of 0.1 mt of wire rods.

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