India's Nalco says bauxite output down 35 pct

BHUBANESWAR, India, May 5 - Bauxite output at India's National Aluminium Co has fallen 35 percent as workers have abandoned the late shift after a rebel attack and the firm's alumina output, currently normal, may also drop, company officials said. To maintain normal alumina output, state-run NALCO has drawn from its bauxite stocks, reducing them by a quarter to 300,000 tonnes, P.K. Mohapatra, executive director told Reuters on Tuesday. The mine was shut down on April 12 after a late-night attack by Maoist rebels that killed 14 people, mostly policemen. It resumed operations after 10 days, when authorities dropped the night shift as demanded by workers. Output at the mine, near Damanjodi in eastern Orissa state, has dropped to 9,000 tonnes a day from 14,000 tonnes. "The production of bauxite has dropped to about 35 per cent. The workers are working only up to 5 p.m. whereas earlier they used to work up to 10 p.m.," he said. "We will be in trouble if production would be disrupted for maintenance or for any other reasons in near future", Mohapatra said adding that the company was motivating the workers to join the night shift.