 "Balco resumes aluminium rolling products business")
Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) had re-started the sheet rolling shop (SRS) at the Korba facility, facilitating metal major to be back in rolling products business that was suspended about a year ago.
In August last year, the SRS was shut down as it was running in huge loss following global steep fall in the price of aluminium and low demand due to dumping from China. After the required maintenance and minor modernization, the machines were taken into operations.
"The SRS resumed production from yesterday (Thursday) with the initial output of 5,000 tonnes," Deepak Prasad, Balco’s head of metal business, said. The production would be gradually increased and the company had planned to produce 36,000 tonnes rolled products in the remaining period of the current financial year, he added.
The products include hot rolled coils, hot rolled plates, cold rolled coils and strips, cold rolled sheets and chequered sheets. The capacity of the SRS would be increased to 100,000 tpa later, Prasad said, adding the SRS would be rolling out all the existing products besides new product.
About 300 workers who lost the job when the SRS was shut down had been taken back.
Balco, in which mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd, earlier Sesa Sterlite, holds 51 per cent stake, is on a major expansion programme. The company would be investing Rs 10,000 crore to enhance the capacity to 1 million tonnes per annum. At present, Balco is equipped to produce 575,000 tonne per annum aluminium.
Because of power constrains, the plant is unable to run to the full capacity. The 1200-Mw power plant had been commissioned while the company had bagged the Chotia coal mine in the auction to feed it. The power plant was a major milestone as it would help feeding the proposed plant under the expansion programme.
