Nalco hopeful of achieving targeted aluminium output

 Despite economic slowdown, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is hopeful of achieving the targeted aluminium production from its smelter plant here in the current financial year.

ANGUL:  Despite economic slowdown, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is hopeful of achieving the targeted aluminium production from its smelter plant here in the current financial year.


“We are on the way of achieving the target by the end of the current fiscal with most of the dead pots being made operational in the last two years.

The current year target remains at 3.85 lakh tonne. Next year's target is also fixed at 4.4 lakh which we can also achieve," said We are on the way of achieving the target by the end of the current fiscal with most of the dead pots being made operational in the last two years of the public sector company here.


This is seen as a revival mode for the plant which witnessed worst day in 2013-14 when it could run 625 aluminium producing pots out of 960 pots installed in the smelter plant here. Nalco produces aluminium from alumina which comes from its refinery unit at Damanjodi of Koraput district.


Nalco was in slump three years ago due to falling aluminium price at the international market and high price it was paying for coal import. As a fallout, it had to reduce its number of working pots to 625 to produce less for financial viability. Out of the 960 pots, it normally operates 940 leaving the remaining in maintenance, according to the official source.


However, after the current CMD TK Chand took over, immediate steps were taken to revive those dead pots to achieve normal production level as he adopted multifarious measures to combat the recession in aluminium market, both at domestic and international level. Now, the daily production has hiked to 1100 tonnes against 800 to 900 tonne of aluminium earlier.


With the boost in aluminium production, the company authorities also plan to operate an additional 120 mega watt unit at its captive power plant here. The power plant has 10x120 MW units it runs as even now because of lack of coal, the official said.

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