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Business News/ Companies / News/  Vedanta warns of aluminium production cuts on coal curbs
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Vedanta warns of aluminium production cuts on coal curbs

Vedanta has just one day's worth of coal stockpiles left at its Jharsuguda smelter in Odisha after a Coal India unit stopped supplies from 18 May

If the coal shortage lasts another week, Vedanta will be forced to shut some units at the 1.7 million tons a year smelter. Photo: ReutersPremium
If the coal shortage lasts another week, Vedanta will be forced to shut some units at the 1.7 million tons a year smelter. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: India’s biggest aluminium producer Vedanta Ltd may be forced to reduce output if restrictions on coal supplies to the non-power sector drag on for another week, according to its chief executive for metals business in the country.

Vedanta has just one day’s worth of coal stockpiles left at its Jharsuguda smelter in Odisha after a unit of state-run monopoly Coal India Ltd stopped supplies from 18 May, Samir Cairae said. Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd last week issued orders to halt deliveries to all non-power customers following a government directive to prioritize the electricity industry.

“The question now is how to run the plant," Cairae said in a phone interview Tuesday. If the coal shortage lasts another week, the company will be forced to shut some units at the 1.7 million tons a year smelter. “There will be no other industrial solutions," he said.

The government has prioritized supplies to power stations to boost their inventories, which are near the lowest since mid-February. The decision is set to bring industries that generate their own electricity using coal to a standstill, the Indian Captive Power Producers Association said this week.

Temporary measures

An aluminium smelter once shut down needs at least six months to restart, Cairae said. Vedanta will take temporary steps such as purchasing electricity from the grid to prevent a shutdown, Cairae said. The measures will bring down production, but keep the plant running.

A shutdown would not be on the cards for Vedanta because of the time required to restart the facility and a “better way would be to import coal even if they operate at lower margins as aluminium prices are still very good," Bhavesh Chauhan, an analyst at IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Ltd., said by phone from Mumbai. The only concern remains “whether it is logistically possible to import high amounts of coal to the plant."

Jharsuguda requires 17 million tons of coal a year to generate electricity at its captive power plant, half of which comes from contracts with Coal India, Cairae said. It sources the rest from imports and auctions by Coal India. Vedanta imported 2 million tons for the smelter in the year through March, he said.

“We hope this matter is resolved soon and we don’t have to import more. It’s not a sustainable solution for us," Cairae said.

Vedanta shares extended their decline in Mumbai following deadly protests at Sesa Sterlite’s copper smelter in Tamil Nadu. The stock slid 2.1% to Rs247.40 on Thursday, the lowest level since June.

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Published: 24 May 2018, 01:10 PM IST
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