Thaindian News

Bhubaneswar, Oct 6 (IANS) Metal production of state-owned National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO) in the first half (April to September) of this fiscal has increased by 6.8 per cent as compared to the output in the like period of the previous fiscal, the company said Wednesday.

“NALCO has achieved a record production of 221,963 tonnes of metal compared to 207,794 tonnes in corresponding period of previous fiscal, registering a growth of 6.8 per cent” the company said in a statement.

Similarly, the company has also achieved a higher metal sale of 217,136 tonnes during first half of current fiscal, registering an increase of 9.2 per cent against 198,803 tonnes sale of metal in corresponding period last year, it said.

The public sector undertaking has also achieved higher figures in terms of bauxite production in the first six months of 2010-11.

NALCO’s bauxite production in the last two quarters taken together was 21.39 lakh tonnes, registering an increase of 4.7 per cent, against 20.43 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period last year, it said.

The alumina production of the company at 7.42 lakh tonnes was comparatively lesser by 38,000 tonnes compared to the same period of previous year, it said.

The production loss was mainly due to the commissioning activities of second phase expansion of the refinery at state’s Angul district, some 161 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, which led to the shutting down of the plant for about 4 days for hooking up the existing streams with the new stream, it said.

The Bhubaneswar-headquartered NALCO is India’s leading manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium.