National Aluminium to Import Coal Next Month to Ease Shortage

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- National Aluminium Co., India’s biggest alumina maker, plans to import as much as 150,000 metric tons of coal next month to avoid disruptions in production. Nalco, as the company is known, will negotiate with global suppliers, Chairman C.R. Pradhan said in a telephone interview today from the eastern city of Bhubaneswar, where Nalco is based. Nalco buys from countries including Indonesia and Australia. Production at Nalco was affected last year because of a strike by truckers in India and a reduction in supplies from Coal India Ltd., the nation’s biggest producer. “The supply of coal has been a constant source of problem for Nalco,” said Niraj Shah, an analyst at Centrum Broking Pvt. He has a “sell” recommendation on the stock. The weekly index for power-station coal prices at Australia’s New South Wales port fell $3.62 to $61.70 a metric ton in the week to March 6, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. Nalco produces 345,000 tons of aluminum and 1.6 million tons of alumina annually. It requires 14,000 tons of coal daily to run a 960-megawatt power plant, Pradhan said. Electricity makes up about 30 percent of the cost at aluminum smelters.