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Informist, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026

 

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--NALCO: Aim to reduce costs, increase volumes
--CONTEXT: Comments by NALCO's management in post-earnings analyst call
--NALCO: Alumina realisation for Apr-Jun at $323 per tn
--NALCO: Average cost of production up INR 15,000-INR 16,000/tn in Q1
--NALCO: Few export shipments disrupted Q1, no pending shipments currently
--NALCO: Railway rakes shortage hit some dispatches in Apr-Jun
--NALCO: Railway rakes availability is improving now
--NALCO: Don't see costs increasing now, absorbed all input cost rise in Q1
--NALCO: Working on 500,000 tn smelter, 1000 MW power plant
--NALCO: Expect new smelter, power plant to be ready by FY30
--NALCO: On track to meet 4.8 mln tn coal output FY27 from new captive mine
--NALCO: Alumina production capacity to touch up to 3.2 mln tn FY28
--NALCO: See FY27 capex up to INR 18 bln, FY28 capex seen at 25 bln
--NALCO: May raise capex in coming years on new projects
--NALCO: See LME aluminium prices at $3,000-$3,200/tn for 2026
--NALCO: Net cash at INR 105 bln as on Jun 30

 

By Ashutosh Pati and Narayana Krishna

 

MUMBAI/HYDERABAD – National Aluminium Co. Ltd. is ramping up capacity and is working towards adding a 500,000 tonnes aluminium smelter in Angul, Odisha and a 1 gigawatts captive power plant by financial year 2029-30 (Apr-Mar). The company is looking to spend up to INR 18 billion in FY27 and INR 25 billion in FY28, its management said Monday in the post-earnings conference call with analysts. NALCO may also raise its capital expenditure to INR 45 billion by FY29 and further as it expands capacity.

 

For the fifth stream alumina refinery expansion in Damanjodi, Odisha, the company has started the pre-commissioning process in June and expects to produce around 200,000 tonnes of alumina this year. "Our target is by September end, we have to complete mechanical completion of all these packages, do the integrated trial first, that is the water run is to be done within the packages, and after that we start the actual production process," the management said.

 

The state-owned company expects its alumina production capacity to rise to around 3.2 million-3.3 million tonnes by FY28. NALCO expects its alumina realisations to average $370 per tonne for the September quarter, up from $323 per tonne in June quarter. "We are expecting that because the price is what is now prevailing, it will give us more $50 more than our earlier realisations," the management said.

 

The company does not expect its costs to increase much from now as it has absorbed all the increase in input costs during the June quarter. This led to an increase in the cost of production of aluminium by INR 15,000-INR 16,000 per tonne, the management said. Most of the increase in costs for the June quarter was on account of a rise in raw material prices such as caustic soda, calcined petroleum coke, and heavy fuel oil.

 

NALCO also expects INR 1,000-INR 1,500 per tonne cost reduction related to alumina production. "In our new refineries,...the advantage which we will be getting is that...the caustic soda consumption will be on the lower side. The caustic soda consumption in our existing refinery, which is around 103 kg to 105 kg per tonne of alumina production, that should go...go down to around maybe 85 to 90 kg per tonne of alumina consumption," the management said.

 

 

 

Some of NALCO's exports were also disrupted during the June quarter due to the West Asia war but this issue has subsided and no export shipments are pending currently. The company's dispatches were impacted during the June quarter due to a shortage of railway rakes, which is also seen improving now, the management said.

 

NALCO is on track to achieve its target of 4.8 million tonnes coal output for FY27 from new captive mines. It sees aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange averaging around $3,000-$3,200 per tonne in 2026. The company is aiming to reduce its costs and raising volumes. NALCO had net cash of INR 105 billion as of Jun. 30. The company reported a net profit of INR 20.02 billion for the June quarter, up over 88% on year. It earned revenues of INR 53.02 billion for the quarter, up over 39% on year.

 

At 1314 IST, shares of the company traded 3.4% higher at INR 361.50 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

US$1 = INR 95.32

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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