FLSmidth wins Indian alumina plant order

COPENHAGEN, July 9 (Reuters) - Danish industrial group FLSmidth has won an order worth $41 million for machinery for an alumina plant in India, the company said on Thursday. The order from Utkal Alumina International Limited is for a bauxite grinding plant and a mud washing plant and includes design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning, FLSmidth said in a statement. It follows a May 2008 order from Utkal Alumina for machinery for the same alumina plant, FLSmidth said. Alumina, which is refined from bauxite, is the main raw material for aluminium production. 'These orders will contribute beneficially to FLSmidth's earnings until completion in late 2010,' said FLSmidth, which is a supplier of equipment and services to the global cement and minerals industries. FLSmidth Chief Executive Jorgen Huno Rasmussen told Reuters that the company sees good prospects for more Indian orders and it also aims to capture a bigger share of the Chinese cement plant market. 'India is rapidly on the way out of crisis and will achieve satisfactory growth also this year,' Huno Rasmussen said. 'So this is an important order. It's the third bauxite plant order in a row that we have won. That is a clear sign that this is a market we are in command of.' He added that India was likely to be the first market to emerge from recession and said he was pleased with the company's market position there both in the cement and mineral plant segments.