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State-owned National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) is aiming to start its Pottangi bauxite mines in Odisha by June next year as the company plans to ramp up its mining capacity supporting its goal of expanding its integrated aluminium business. Dilip Buildcon Ltd had emerged as L-1 bidder for the development and operation of Pottangi bauxite mines. "...our target is June next year we will be starting the mines," NALCO CMD Brijendra Pratap Singh said. The company is set to enhance its alumina production capacity at its Damanjodi refinery in Koraput district, Odisha. Nalco operates a 2.275 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) alumina refinery at the site and is undertaking the installation of a 5th stream that will add an additional 1 MTPA capacity. To support this expansion, the Odisha government has granted Nalco a mining lease for the Pottangi Bauxite Deposit in Koraput district. The lease covers an area of 697.979 hectares and is valid for 50 years, ensuring steady raw material suppl
Operating margins of the domestic primary aluminium companies are likely to shrink by 400-500 bps sequentially in the second quarter of 2022-23 due to factors like high input costs, rating agency Icra said on Thursday. "Owing to a twin onslaught of correction in aluminium prices and elevated input costs, the estimated operating profitability of ICRA's sample set of domestic players is likely to contract sequentially by almost 400-500 bps in Q2 FY2023 compared to Q1 FY2023," Icra said in a statement. International prices of aluminium have corrected by around 38 per cent from the record high of around 3900/tonne US dollar in March. While in the first quarter of FY23 the average LME aluminium spot prices remained at USD 2,870 per tonne, the same have corrected in the second quarter of FY'23 (YTD) to around USD 2,425 per tonne. Further, the cost of power for domestic aluminium producers continued to remain high, due to lesser supply of coal linkage to non-power sectors and high price o