Balco to resume rolling products manufacturing at Korba mill

Aluminium maker Balco will re-start production of rolled products at its Korba mill in Chhattisgarh by July, 11 months after it shut down rolling operations due to steep fall in prices of the metal.
The metal company, a part of Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd, expects normal production to start from July 15. Balco in August last had announced shutting down of rolling mill in Korba due to "steep fall" in the prices besides dumping from China and falling margins.
"Balco CEO Ramesh Nair announced today that Balco's Sheet Rolling Shop Unit (SRS) will reopen shortly. The announcement was made after Nair's meeting with the office bearers of all the working labour unions in Balco," the company said in a statement today.

A religious ceremony has been planned for April 22 in the premises of SRS. After the ceremony, a special team will inspect the premises, which will help make the strategy to enable SRS to become a profitable unit, it added.
After a thorough inspection of the machines and after completion of maintenance, the machines will be taken into operation from the July 1, 2016. It is expected that normal production will happen from the July 15," Balco said.
While announcing the closure of rolling business at Korba in August, the company had said that the move would result in loss of around 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd, earlier Sesa Sterlite, holds 51 per cent stake in Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco), while the remaining is held by the government. It produces about 30,000 tonnes per annum of rolled products like aluminium sheets and coils.