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NALCO may cut output due to coal shortage
Posted by Yogesh on Friday, 20 June, 2008
BHUBANESWAR, India, June 19 – India’s National Aluminium Co Ltd may cut production if coal shortages continue, a senior official said on Thursday, raising prospects of tighter spot market supply.
India’s No. 2 aluminium producer, state-run NALCO, has not received coal since Monday due to a truckers’ strike at its coal suppliers, forcing it to shut down one of the seven power units that feed its smelter in Angul in the eastern state of Orissa.
“Aluminium production in NALCO has not been affected so far but if this situation continues for some more time then it may get affected,” Arun Sharma, executive director of the Angul unit, told Reuters.
If the coal supply did not resume immediately, NALCO may shut down one more unit in a day or two, Sharma said.
The energy-intensive metal used in power, packaging and transport has spiked back above $3,000 on worries about supplies from China, the world’s top producer and consumer.
Aluminium MAL3 was $5 up at $3,085 a tonne on Thursday, after touching its highest in almost two months at $3,122 on Wednesday.
Source Reuters
