National Aluminium Company (Nalco) today said it has increased the price of the metal by nearly 5% or Rs 6,000 to around Rs 1,21,000 a tonne in sync with the firming up of the global prices.
"We have raised the price by Rs 6,000 a tonnes effective February 1. The price of aluminium has gone past $2,500 per tonne. We raised the price to keep pace with the global rate," Nalco Finance Director B L Bagra said.
The price of aluminium crossed the $2,500 per tonne mark recently. This includes a $100 per tonne rise in the last 3-4 days on a slightly tight global demand-supply scenario. "The global production of aluminium currently stands at 39-40 million tonnes per annum. The demand is also around the same level.
"Meanwhile, some smelters have been closed in China in the recent past. This led to a firming up of the price," Bagra said.
He, however, added that the current "small" demand-supply mismatch is only a temporary phenomenon as with the firming up of the price, closed smelters have again started resuming.
"As a result, I don't see price escalating further in the immediate future. It would rather consolidate at the current level in the short-term," Bagra said.
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Nalco, the second-biggest producer of aluminium in the country, had also raised prices in January this year, but had to correct it in the third week of the month itself as global price slackened.
The company had reported 65% rise in net profit for the quarter ended December 31 to Rs 255.95 crore from Rs 155.18 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
This was, among other things, due to an average 16% rise in the price of aluminum on the London Metal Exchange during the quarter to $2,365 a tonne. Net sales of the company also rose to Rs 1,425 crore from Rs 1,386.47 crore in the year-ago period.