India: Capacity Ramp-ups help Vedanta Post 44% Surge in Aluminium Output

Capacity additions at its Balco-II and Jharsuguda smelters enabled diversified metals giant Vedanta Ltd to achieve 44% per cent growth in aluminium production in the April-June quarter.

The overall aluminium output in the period stood at 352,000 MT. The production hike was the result of capacity ramp-ups at Vedanta’s second smelters at Jharsuguda and Balco unit at Korba (Chhattisgarh) which were lying almost idle.

“The Balco-II smelter was ramped up and capitalised during the quarter. Aluminium production was flat quarter-on-quarter, as the continued ramp up at Jharsuguda-II and Balco-II was offset by lower production from the Jharsuguda-I smelter due to the pot outage in early April 2017”, Vedanta said in a production release.

On alumina production parameter, Vedanta reported strong numbers as well. As Vedanta operated both streams of its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh located in the eastern state of Odisha, production was up by 10 per cent at 0.3 MnT.

During Q1 of 2017-18, there were no external sales from the 1,800 MW Jharsuguda power plant due to a weak power market. However, the PLFs will continue to increase as we ramp up the Jharsuguda-II smelter.

On coal supplies, domestic linkages contribute to the long-term security of our coal requirements at a competitive price. Vedanta experienced temporary disruptions in domestic coal supply from Coal India during the quarter.

From the coal linkages of six MnT pa, which were secured through auctions in Q2 of FY17 for the captive power plants at Balco and Jharsuguda, 1.8 MnT of coal were received during the quarter compared to 1.4 MnT in Q4 of FY17. In addition to this, the company secured further linkages of 2 MnTpa in July. Coal imports continue to be minimal for aluminium business. In the current fiscal, Vedanta aims to produce 1.5-1.6 MnT of aluminium.