Nalco to set up Rs 4k cr refinery in Andhra

The country's leading aluminium producer Nalco will invest Rs 4,000 crore to set up a 14 lakh tonne alumina refinery near Vizag as soon as it gets mining rights over two bauxite blocks in Andhra Pradesh. "We have proposed to set up a 1.4-MTPA alumina refinery near Vizag at an estimated investment of Rs 4,000 crore. But before that we are awaiting mining rights for two bauxite mines located in the region," Nalco CMD C R Pradhan told PTI. The Navratna firm has identified bauxite mines with an estimated reserves of 40 and 45 million tonnes in the state and is seeking Centre's clearance to start mining activities. It expects to develop the mines and complete the alumina refinery project in five years. "Once started, we will be able to complete the project in 5 years," he said. The largest alumina producer and exporter has about multi-billion dollar expansion plan lined up in India and overseas. By the end of last fiscal, the company produced over 15.75 lakh tonnes of alumina from its Damanjodi plant in Orissa. Also, it produced about 15.75 lakh tonnes of aluminium from its unit in Angul. Aluminium prices came down by over 50 per cent from the peak of about $3,800 a tonne in the early part of last year on the back of slump in demand especially from automobile and the construction sector amid the global industrial downturn. Alumina prices have also plummeted to about $200 per tonne mark and the firm hopes it to stabilise at that level. "Aluminium prices are likely to stabilise at about $200-250 a tonne mark where as aluminium at about $1,700-1,800 per tonne," Pradhan said. Hit by the slowdown, the industry is likely to witness lower profit in third quarter of this fiscal as against the year-ago period, he said. SOURCE:www.business-standard.com