Alufluoride to ship raw material from Tuticorin by barges

Alufluoride Limited, a Vizag based unit manufacturing aluminium fluoride used in aluminium smelters, is planning to transport raw material requirements for its plant from Tuticorin by barges.

The move to transport hydrofluosilicic acid, a raw material, by barges is expected to help the Vizag company run its plant at optimum capacity.

"At present, we are procuring  our main raw material "�  hydrofluosilicic acid "� from the local Coromandel Fertilisers Limited (CFL). To ensure that we fully use our capacity, we have decided to bring some quantities of raw material from Tuticorin via the sea route. We expect to start transporting this from Tuticorin from next month," V S Prasad, managing director of Alufluoride Limited, told Business Standard.

Alufluoride has a production capacity of 7,000 tonnes, for which it requires about 7,000 tonnes of hydrofluosilicic acid. It has been producing only 4,000 tonnes a year due to the shortage of raw material for the last 10 years.

The main raw material, hydrofluosilicic acid, is available only in CFL in Andhra Pradesh and the company is not in a position to supply more than 4,000 tonnes of hydrofluosilicic acid every year.

"At present, our turnover is between Rs 12 croe and 14 crore. If we can make use of our present capacity totally, our turnover will cross the Rs 20-crore mark. Keeping this in mind, we are planning to bring some quantity of raw material from Tuticorin," Prasad said.

Bringing raw material by road from Tuticorin is a  costlier proposition, as compared to the sea route.

"We want to bring 200 tonnes of hydrofluosilicic acid by barges every month. We have asked a few major barge companies to give us quotes. Sterilite, which has a copper smelting plant in Tuticorin, has agreed to supply up to 3,500 tonnes of hydrofluosilicic acid annually," Prasad said.

Prasad said that the company plans to to declare some dividends to its shareholders from next fiscal.

"The company has raised Rs 2 crore from the public through an IPO, and has taken loans of about Rs 10 crore from financial institutions. Now we have almost cleared the loans and only about Rs 1.15 crore is pending with the State Bank of Hyderabad," Prasad added.