National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has earned net profit of Rs 1,069 crore during 2010-11, according to a press release at the annual general meeting held here on Thursday.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Nalco, Mr B.L. Bagra, who presided over the meeting, said that the aluminium smelter and captive power plant of the company had made record production during the year.

The level of capacity utilisation at mines was 100.5 per cent with a production of 48.24 lakh tonnes. At alumina refinery, it was 98.8 per cent with 15.56 lakh tonnes. At aluminium smelter the utilisation was 96.4 per cent with 4.44 lakh tonnes and at captive power plant 91.7 per cent with 6,608 million units.

The slight decrease in alumina hydrate production at the refinery, as compared to 15.91 lakh tonnes achieved in the previous fiscal, was due to the plant being shut down for hook-up jobs under expansion project and for maintenance jobs. Bauxite transportation was in line with the demand of alumina refinery for achieving the near rated capacity.

Sales

The company achieved the highest domestic metal sale of 3,40,752 tonnes, surpassing the previous record of 2,89,032 tonnes achieved in 2009-10, and it was 17.9 per cent higher than last year's sale. The metal sale during the year was 4,38,952 tonnes, the highest-ever, surpassing the previous best of 435,979 tonnes achieved during the previous year.

“This has been made possible due to rise in demand for aluminium and improvement in company's share in the domestic market. Besides, the company has also widened its international customer base during the year,” Mr Bagra said.

In the value-added segment, the company sold 20,126 tonnes of rolled products, surpassing the previous highest sale of 15,092 tonnes achieved in 2009-10. During the year, the company exported 4,614 tonnes of billets, after a gap of almost a decade. It also added T-ingot to its product range, which is the first of its kind in the country.

The alumina sale at 681,917 tonnes during the year was 8.4 per cent less than previous year's sale of 744,069 tonnes, due to higher consumption in smelter plant for producing more aluminium metal, thereby resulting in less availability of alumina for sale compared to last year. The domestic sale of alumina, special grade alumina and other chemical products was 45,916 tonnes during the year which was the highest-ever surpassing the previous highest of 44,420 tonnes achieved in 2009-10.

Financials

The company earned a net profit after tax of Rs 1,069 crore for the year, as compared to Rs 814 crore in the previous year, an increase of 31 per cent. Sales revenue during the year at Rs 5,959 crore was higher by Rs 904 crore, an increase of 18 per cent as compared to the previous year.

Mr Bagra said the results would have been still better, but for the adverse impact of exchange rate of rupee on sales, which made a dent of Rs 159 crore during the year. The operating cost was higher by Rs 399 crore, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year, due to increase in prices of coal, fuel oil and provisioning for wage revision.

The CMD said the mining lease over south block of Panchpatmali Bauxite Mines was extended for a further period of 20 years.

Future plans

Mr Bagra said: “The company is actively pursuing to set up a smelter and power project in Indonesia at suitable location, primarily because of availability of good quality coal at economic prices. Two coal mining firms have been identified for possible long-term arrangement for sourcing coal for the proposed project.”

Besides, he said, Nalco had been planning to set up a smelter and power project in Odisha. Considering the uncertainty on the location in Odisha project, the company may have to explore for an alternative location in the country.

Due to unfavourable ground conditions in the area surrounding the bauxite mines in Gudem and KR Konda blocks in Andhra Pradesh, “the company is moving cautiously on the field activities for the proposed mines and refinery project.”

He said the company had placed orders to set up a 50.4 MW wind power plant in Andhra Pradesh at an estimated investment of Rs 274 crore. The plant is expected to be commissioned by February 2012.

Angul Aluminium Park, a joint venture between Nalco and the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, had taken off with the company having 49.5 per cent equity. The acquisition of land is in progress.

Expansion

He said all the segments of the second phase expansion had been commissioned. Utkal-E coal block with estimated reserves of around 70 million tonnes will cater to the requirement of ninth and 10th units of CPP. The project is estimated to cost Rs 280 crore. The coal block is likely to become operational by June 2012.

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