National Aluminium Co., is seeking to build a smelter and a power plant in Indonesia. According to Chairman B.L. Bagra, discussions are on with two coal companies to buy a stake of 24 percent in one of their mines.
“MEC Coal and Bumi Murau Coal have offered stakes and supplies for National Aluminium's planned projects in East Kalimantan province,” Bagra said in an interview. The company expects to complete the valuation of the mines before the end of the month.
National Aluminium, India's second-biggest aluminum producer, plans to spend $4 billion in Indonesia as it seeks new overseas markets and raw material sources. Demand for the lightweight metal is rising in Indonesia, where economic growth this year is forecast to reach as much as 6.5 percent.
National Aluminium plans to import 800,000 metric tons of coal in the year that began April 1, 45 percent more than the previous year, after increasing its refining capacity by about one-third last month. The company has invited offers for importing 300,000 tons of coal, Bagra said.
The company is likely to start production at its Orissa coal mine by the end of 2012, producing 2 million tons annually. National Aluminium needs about 7 million tons of coal annually to produce electricity for its plants in India.
The state-run aluminum maker plans to spend 3 billion rupees ($68 million) to build a 50-megawatt wind power plant in India and expects to award contracts in about two months.

The producer and exporter of iron ore Sesa Goa Limited, has acquired a 10.4% stake in Cairn India from Malaysia-based Petronas International Corporation Limited. The company has purchased 200 million shares of Cairn from Petronas at Rs 331 a share. The said acquisition was in addition to the open offer to public for a 20% stake in Cairn India, launched this month. Sesa Goa Limited (Sesa Goa) is a diversified global metals and mining company. It is engaged in producing and exporting iron ore and also in producing pig iron and metallurgical coke. The company operates in two segments: iron ore and metallurgical coke.

Hindustan Copper Ltd may enter a joint venture with aluminium major NALCO, to explore alternative options for funding new mining projects. The company is using delay of time in the FPO (follow-on offer) to explore means for raising finance.
The focus of Hindustan Copper is to raise its mining output four-fold to 12 million tonne from current 3.6 million tonne. The company is confident of generating funds from internal sources in the next two years, but will face a fund shortfall in 2013.
HCL's joint venture with NALCO will be for developing the Malanjkhand copper mines in Madhya Pradesh. The total investment required for this is around Rs 3,677 crore plan for brownfield expansion of its mines. Other mines being expanded include Surda, Rakkha and Chapri-Sideshwari in Jharkhand. HCL reported a rise of 55% in profit before tax in 2010-11 to Rs 335 crore, due to gains from high copper prices on LME.
The company also wants to begin with bidding for copper deposits in Afghanistan with NALCO. Demand for copper is expected to grow at around 7% this fiscal year in the domestic market. India's copper production declined to 653'436 tonnes in the previous year. Total installed capacity for copper is higher at 949,500 tonnes.

Fly ash utilization in the state has left a lot to be desired as only half of the total fly ash generated was utilized in 2010-11. According to information provided by state energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak in the state assembly, 27 coal-based power plants generated 21.18 million tonnes of fly ash and bottom ash in the last fiscal. Only 10.68 million tonnes of this fly ash could be utilized, meaning a utilization of 50.42 per cent. While fly ash utilization for some of the industrial units was as high as 99 per cent, for others, it has been disappointingly low. For Vedanta Aluminium Ltd's captive power plant (CPP) located within the company's alumina refinery complex at Lanjigarh, the fly ash utilization is abysmally low at 15.2 per cent. The 75 MW CPP generated 220,593 tonnes of fly ash and 28,841 tonnes of bottom ash in 2010-11 of which only 38,000 tonnes of ash could be utilized. In case of 420 MW coal-fired power plant of Orissa Power Generation Corporation Ltd (OPGC) situated at Banharpali near Jharsuguda, the extent of fly ash utilization was only 27.66 per cent. Other coal-based power plants with unsatisfactory level of fly ash utilization are Nalco's 1200 MW CPP at Angul (34.67 per cent), Vedanta Aluminium's 1,215 MW CPP at Jharsuguda (47 per cent), Aarti Steel's 90 MW CPP (30 per cent), Bhushan Power & Steel's 376 MW CPP at Lapanga (35 per cent) and the 1,200 MW independent power plant of Sterlite Energy (34.48 per cent). The CPPs of Hindalco Industries Ltd-Sambalpur (367.5 MW) and Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd-Dhenkanal (94 MW) stood at 53.77 per cent and 59.39 per cent respectively. The 460 MW Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS) of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has achieved 99.99 per cent fly ash utilization. The CPPs of other industrial units like J K Paper Mills (99.99 per cent), Shyam Metallics and Energy Ltd (99.99 per cent), Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (99.97 per cent) ACC Ltd (97.2 per cent) and JSL Ltd (98.03 per cent) and Emami Paper Mills (99 per cent) have also achieved commendable success in fly ash utilization.

The Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) has given its nod for diversion of 19,655.08 hectares of forest land for industrialization and mining activities in Orissa till November this year. The diversion of forest land has been done as per the Forest Conservation Act-1980. Compensatory afforestation has been taken up on 18,842.99 hectares of land, minister for forest & environment Debi Prasad Mishra said. The state has diverted 119.84 hectares (296.13 acres) of forest land in Angul district for the establishment of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL). Similarly, 1,253.22 hectares (3,096.77 acres) forest land has been given to Posco for setting up of mega steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district. The state government has also given permission for diversion of forest land for Bhushan Steel Ltd at Lapanga (59.16 hectares), aluminium smelter and captive power plant of Aditya Aluminium Ltd-Sambalpur (119.84 hectares), Bhushan Steel & Strips Ltd in Angul and Dhenkanal districts (61.48 hectares), Shyam DRI Power Ltd at Pandoli in Sambalpur district (38.39 hectares) and Adhunik Metaliks-Rourkela (24.34 hectares).

State-owned National Aluminium Company plans to set up a carbon absorption unit at its coal-fired Captive Power Plant (CPP) at Angul to reduce carbon emission and get carbon credits. The company has earmarked 0.18 acre of land for the carbon sequestration project, which is expected to be completed within 18 months, said a company release. The company, however, did not mention the total cost of the project. Carbon sequestration is a method to manage and store carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere by burning carbon-based fuels. In this method, a battery of systems is introduced to the gas emitting chimneys and the gas is then modified to suit algae cultivation. Algae, unlike plants, need higher carbon concentration to grow. The algae so produced can be used for production of bio-fuel, poultry & cattle feed, aquaculture feed, pharmaceutical products and a kind of organic fuel having high calorific value. The company also aims to generate revenue by implementing the project. By successfully implementing this project, Nalco can avail the benefit of carbon credits under Clean Development Mechanism. Carbon credits are certificates that are awarded to groups or institutions that have significantly reduced their carbon emissions. The carbon credit holders can use the permit or can sell it to other industries that emit more carbon than permissible limit.

Hinduja Foundries Ltd has announced the financial Results for the period ended September 30th 2011. The company has reported Net Sales / Income from Operations of INR 197.93 crores for the quarter ended September 30th 2011 against INR 131.80 crores for the quarter ended September 30th 2010. The Net Profit / (Loss) were at INR 1.07 crores for the quarter ended September 30th 2011 against INR 0.81 crores for the quarter ended September 30th 2010.

With the 5 million tonne Greenfield Lanjigarh aluminum refinery plant expansion on hold, the Anil Agarwal led Vedanta Aluminum has decided to focus on completing its aluminum smelter plant at Jharsuguda in Orissa to achieve its targeted capacity of 1.75 million tonnes. Mr Mukesh Kumar president & CEO of VAL said that "The work is on, on a war footing, at the proposed project site at our Jharsuguda plant and we will achieve 1.75 million tonnes capacity by the end of the next financial year.”
The company has so far invested around INR 35,000 crore in its Jharsuguda project and around INR 10,000 crore at the Lanjigarh plant and plans to invest the balance of INR 15,000 crore by 2013 to complete its planned expansion. VAL plans to up its smelting capacity at Jharsuguda plant to 1.75 million tonne from the present 0.5 million tonne by 2013. Mr Kumar said that the Phase I of our 0.5 million tonne per annum smelter and 1 million tonne per annum alumina refinery has already been completed and work on the Phase II is on, except the alumina refinery which is under hold as per the Union Environmental Ministry directives. He said that the company has set up a Greenfield aluminum refinery plant with a capacity of 1 million tonne at Lanjigarh and plans to ramp up it to 5 million tonne. We are awaiting the environment ministry's clearance to ramp up capacity at Lanjigarh plant in Kalahandi district. The expansion of the refinery plant ran into rough weather after the Union Environmental Ministry refused to give clearance on October 21st 2010.

Despite growing significance of cheaper substitute, the Rs 3200-crore aluminium utensil industry is set to witness between 15 and 20 per cent growth in the next two years due to high resale value of these items. The industry has recorded an average growth of 15 per cent in the last three years in spite of economic turmoil. The estimates assume significance as the utensil sector alone consumes nearly 20 per cent of the overall aluminium consumption in India and sets the direction for aluminium producers for production capacity. The sector also establishes the changing consumers' sentiment who along with immediate need, think returns before considering investment. The Indian aluminium utensils sector comprising 4,000-plus firms is still not recognised by any government or agencies. Nevertheless, in the last three years, the industry has witnessed tremendous growth. However, irrelevant myths about health hazards may seriously impact the industry's prospects, said Bharat Garg, patron of Federation of All India Aluminium Utensils Manufacturers. Utensils made of stainless steel (SS) directly compete with that of aluminium. But, on the price front, SS utensil lags behind. SS utensils are available at one-fourth of the price of aluminium utensils. Hence, consumers opt for SS utensil for immediate needs. But, those who can afford costlier items and aim it as an investment buy aluminium utensils. The Rs 50,000-crore SS utensil industry has also been growing at 15 per cent for the last several years and the trend is likely to continue in future as well due to non-nucleus family structure in India. Compare this: SS utensil scrap is generally dumped for no value while the aluminium utensils scrap is kept safe for selling it back to local retailer at slightly discount of new utensils. While the industry was growing at about 10 per cent annually until three years ago, new innovations in product portfolio kept the consumers' confidence up and the overall growth intensified further to 15 per cent in the last three years. Cookware like non-stick pans and pressure cookers are gaining more popularity in kitchens across all segments of population. Almost 95 per cent of these products are made of recycled metal wherein there is no price differential for the products based on recycled or virgin metal. Garg said this was because the metal loses none of its original properties in the recycling process. Also, the issues of contamination in recycled metal were duly taken care of by the industry. The utensil manufacturers source the raw material from scrap traders, who collect used aluminium articles from rag pickers and petty collectors.

Mr. Vinod Kapur, Chairman & Mg. Director of Gargi Huttenes Albertus Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, has been elected as Vice President of World Foundry Organization during the WFO General Assembly held in Dusseldorf, Germany on 1st July'11.
The World Foundry Organization is the recognized centre of strategic foundry knowledge, designed to develop, enhance and improve the production of metal castings; through the latest technical and sustainable industry practices. Through the involvement of the member associations, in 30 countries the WFO creates a network of technical knowledge and resource that is a vital tool to every foundry association, foundry and foundry worker throughout the world. The WFO is a neutral body that represents the collective needs of the members on a global stage.

The public sector National Aluminium Company (Nalco) may have to face stern action from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) if it fails to meet the February-end deadline set by the pollution watchdog for coming out with an alternative ash pond for dumping its fly ash. While the aluminium major had sought time till April-end, the pollution board authorities had insisted on sticking to the deadline of February-end next year to complete the third ash pond for dumping of high density slurry for its 1,200 MW captive power plant. The SPCB has asked the aluminium producer specifically to make alternative arrangements for dumping of the slurry as their current ash pond is exhausted. The board also refused permission for raising the wall of the ash pond to increase its capacity. Nalco owns 47 acres of land where it can dump the high density ash till their pipeline to the Talcher coal mine is completed. A pollution expert, however, said that SPCB cannot close the power plant of Nalco as it would have an irreparable impact on the company's smelter plant which requires uninterrupted power supply round the clock to sustain itself. Meanwhile, the government is not willing to appoint regular CMD of aluminium PSU on the ground that the person who was holding the post till February and is under suspension over graft charges, has more than two years to retire. Criticising the Ministry of Mines for not initiating the process of appointment of regular chairman and managing director of Nalco, the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertaking said the government is resorting to "misinterpretation" of PSU appointment guidelines. Ministry's (of Mines) stance of delaying the initial process (of appointment) till within two years of the occurrence of vacancy is sluggish approach, grounded on misinterpretation of the guideline, which is violative of the spirit of the guidelines.

Amid a weak trend overseas and subdued demand from consuming industries, select base metals lost up to INR 2 per kilogram at the local nonferrous metal market. Traders said that subdued industrial demand and reports of weak global trend mainly led to a fall in select base metal prices. Meanwhile, copper for three month delivery fell by 0.8% to USD 9,005 per tonne, the lowest level since August 26 on the London Metal Exchange. In the national capital, copper wire scrap, copper wire bar and copper mixed scrap remained weak and shed another INR 2 each to INR 517, INR 540 and INR 502 per kilogram respectively. Nickel (4x4) followed suit and traded lower by the same margin at INR 1073 per kilogram to INR 1075 per kilogram. Lead ingot and lead imported were also enquired lower by rupee one each to INR 142 per kilogram and INR 147 per kilogram.

Taking weak cues from global markets, zinc prices fell by 0.45% to INR 100.40 per kilogram in futures trade. Weak trend at the spot markets owing to subdued demand also put pressure on zinc prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, October zinc declined by 45 paise or 0.45% to INR 100.40 per kilogram with a business turnover of 63 lots. The September contract shed 35 paise or 0.35% to INR 99.45 per kilogram in 2,658 lots. Market analysts attributed the rise in zinc futures prices to a weakening trend on the London Metal Exchange, besides subdued demand in the spot market.