Nalco posts record forex earnings of Rs 3719 cr

Metal output plunges 22% in FY14

NationalAluminium Company (Nalco) has posted its best ever foreign exchange earnings of Rs 3719 crore in 2013-14 even as its aluminium output fell 21.58 per cent to 316,000 tonne from 403,000 tonne in 2012-13.

The aluminium major went for a planned cut in metal production through shut down of around 300 out of 960 pots on lower prices on the LondonMetal Exchange (LME).“Itwas not commercially viable to produce more metal using expensive imported coal”, a Nalco release said quoting its chairman cummanaging director Anshuman Das.

Nalco,however, posted its best ever performance in alumina and bauxite production.

Bauxiteproduction stood at 6.29 million tonne in FY14, 16.12 per cent higherthan 5.41 million tonne in 2012-13.

Similarly,Nalco's aluminium refining complex at Damanjodi (Koraput) produced1.92 million tonne alumina hydrate, growth of 6.82 per cent over 1.8million tonne achieved in the previous fiscal.Sale of alumina hydrate by Nalco was also the highest ever at 1.34 milliontonne, 36.52 rise over 982,000 tonne in the previous fiscal.

Buttotal metal sale nosedived by a quarter (25 per cent) from 403,000tonne to 320,000 tonne.

Netpower generation by the company's captive power plant at Angul was4989 million units.