Nalco sees alumina rebound

National Aluminium Corporation, the country's biggest alumina producer, said it sold the aluminum-making raw material at $337 a metric ton, signalling a rebound in rates.

The company sold 30,000 tonne of alumina to a US-based company, Chairman C R Pradhan said from Bhubaneswar, where the company is based. The alumina will be shipped this month, he said.

"This is very encouraging and looks as if prices are turning around,'' he said. "If prices continue to remain northbound, we will sell more in the spot market.'' Alumina has more than halved from its March 31 record of $627.5 a ton as companies increased production to meet rising demand in China.

Alumina traded at $205 a ton on January 3 in the European Union, according to Metal Bulletin.

"Nalco's sale of alumina at $337 is a sign that prices are recovering,'' Adam Rowley, an analyst with Macquarie Bank Ltd, Australia's largest securities firm, said today from London.

"It seems as if prices are not falling any further as demand is coming back. We will see alumina trade between $200 and $250 a ton this year."

Nalco, as the company is also called, plans to sell 30,000 tons more of alumina in the immediate delivery market.

"We will invite bids starting tomorrow and will be shipped next month,'' he said.

The state-owned company will sell 60 percent of its alumina output through long-term contracts in the year ending March, or twice as much as before, to shield itself from falling alumina prices, Pradhan said on Oct. 30.

Nalco produced 1.6 million tons of alumina in the year ended March 31.