Nalco may get permit for bauxite mine

National Aluminium Co., India’s (Nalco) biggest alumina maker, may win a licence in the next three months to mine bauxite in Andhra Pradesh, securing raw material for its planned $800 million alumina plant in the southern state.

“The government is likely to grant permission by September,” chairman C R Pradhan said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “There’s enough demand for alumina globally so there’s a market there for us.”

National Aluminium is eyeing Andhra Pradesh’s rich reserve of bauxite, which is turned into alumina and then aluminum to be used in beverage cans, automobiles and aircraft. Sales of alumina is rising as the global economy emerges from the deepest slump since World War II. Alumina prices gained over 18 per cent since April, according to the UK-based Metal Bulletin.

India’s bauxite reserves are the fifth-largest in the world, according to National Aluminium. The deposits are mainly concentrated in the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Aluminum sales to carmakers and builders in China, the world’s largest consumer, is gaining, according to the Chinese unit of Alcoa Inc., the largest US aluminum producer. United Co Rusal, the world’s largest, said on June 2 it expects prices to gain significantly from the third quarter after rising stockpiles prompted smelters to curb output.

National Aluminium shares rose as much as 5.4 per cent to Rs 344.9 in Mumbai and traded at Rs 337, up 3 per cent. The shares have risen 78 per cent this year, outpacing the key Sensitive Index’s 56 per cent gain.

Meanwhile, Nalco had earlier said first-quarter profit will increase from the previous three months, aided by higher production and prices of the metal used to make aircraft and beverage cans.

Net income will exceed the 830.2 million rupees ($18 million) posted in the fourth quarter ended March 31, chairman C R Pradhan said. Aluminum prices are expected to stabilise around $1,500 a tonne.