Aluminium players to focus more on value-added products amid flat prices

Faced with escalating costs of metal production and sobering prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME), Indian aluminium producers are ramping up focus on value added products to shore up margins.

Aluminium prices on the LME have tumbled to $1,775 per tonne (as on May 1, 2019) for the cash buyer, exceeding the cost of production of Indian producers. After scaling multi-year highs in April last year on account of sanctions clamped on UC Rusal by the US Treasury, aluminium prices falling. Moreover, with the US lifting sanctions on Rusal and the withdrawal of production embargo on Norsk Hydro owned Alunorte