NALCO wants less alumina exports, more aluminium

MUMBAI (Reuters) - National Aluminium Co. Ltd. wants to gradually cut alumina exports and use its output to increase aluminium production, its chairman said on Thursday.

NALCO produced about 1.6 million tonnes of alumina in the year ended Mar. 31, of which about 800,000 tonnes was exported and the remainder used for aluminium production.

Asked if NALCO plans to cut alumina production and increase aluminium production, company chairman C.R. Pradhan told Reuters, "Yes."

He said NALCO's goal was to use about 1.4 million tonnes of alumina for aluminium production and export the remainder, adding this depended on the company raising its aluminium production capacity.

NALCO produced 358,954 tonnes of aluminium in the financial year ended March, according to the company's Web site.

The company was looking at production facilities in Dubai, Indonesia or India, but nothing had been finalised, Pradhan said.

"We should have been able to decide by the end of this (calendar) year. Now, we should be able to decide this now by March or April," the NALCO chairman said, without elaborating on the reasons for the delay.

The plans are part of an already announced five-year expansion plan estimated to cost $3.25 billion.

As part of that plan, National Aluminium was also examining a proposal to build a 1.5 million tonne aluminium smelter in India, in Andhra Pradesh or Orissa.

Pradhan also said NALCO had finalised a one-year sale contract with a Romanian firm for 240,000 tonnes of alumina.

The contract was at about 10 percent of the LME price of aluminium and would be in a range of $250-$290 per tonne. Supply would begin in January, he said.