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India's aluminium production was lower by 16.5% at 1.72 million tonne in 2012-13 fiscal as against the target of 2.06 million tonne, a senior official of the Department of Mines said.
However, it was 3% up compared to 1.67 million tonne produced in 2011-12, he said.
"There are various reasons for not achieving target. Non-availability of bauxite on time for some of the units has crippled production and falling global prices also contributed to non-achieving targets," the official said.
"Aluminium prices at London Metal Exchange have fallen by 15 to 20%. We expect the prices to go up by the latter half of the year. It is common for the countries. The more they produce now, the higher the losses they incur," he said.
Major producers of the metal in the country include state -owned National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) and private sector units - Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), Hindustan Aluminium Company Ltd (HINDALCO) and Vedanta Aluminium Company Ltd (VAL).
A senior NALCO official had earlier said the aluminium maker may operate its sole smelter at 75% capacity until global prices of the metal recover or availability of cheap domestic coal increases.
The 4.6 lakh tonne per annum capacity of the NALCO plant at Angul in eastern Odisha has been operating at a reduced capacity since May 12 after its coal supplier Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd shut a mine following an accident on April 21.
NALCO production director S S Mohapatra had said the company may review the situation and consider using imported coal to increase the output if the LME prices are up beyond $2,200 per tonne.
BALCO, with 3.45 lakh tonne per annum capacity, has closed down its old smelter of 1 LTPA capacity and hence the present installed capacity of the company is 2.45 lakh tons, the official added.
BALCO had achieved 2.47 lakh tonne production against target of 3.6 lakh tonne during 2012-13.
Hindalco and Vedanta produced 5.75 lakh tonne and 4.33 lakh tonne as against target of 6.07 lakh tonne and 6.66 lakh tonne respectively, the official said.
Aluminium Association of India's honorary general secretary K S S Murthy said the metal demand in India is expected to grow at 10-12% per annum and this will be driven by growth in sectors like electricity, transport, building and construction and packaging.
Replying to a query, Murthy said with the expansions lined up by primary producers, which will be operationalised during 2013-14, the fresh production availability in India can cater to the domestic demand.
Murthy said the total aluminium import during 2012-13 in India was 1.32 million tonne.
India's aluminium consumption of all products (excluding scrap) in 2012-13 was 1.97 million tonne. The aluminium consumption with scrap in 2012-13 was 2.7 million tonne, Murthy explained.
