How Hindalco ringfenced itself from uncertainty with value-added products

There was a time when nearly 75% smelters in the world were not able to recover production costs from aluminium sales

How does a producer de-risk the commodity business that is aluminium? Smelters making primary aluminium are exposed to major price fluctuations on the London Metal Exchange (LME). Since July 2008, when the silvery white metal traded at a high of $3,075 a tonne, it has remained on a roller coaster with three month LME prices moving between a low of $1,300 a tonne in the wake of global economic crisis and the present around $2,000 a tonne. In fact, there was a time when nearly 75 per cent smelters in the world were not able to recover production costs from