Nalco attributes its lowest bauxite production cost for 29% hike in net profit and 21% in net sales during FY2019

The Navratna PSU under Ministry of Mines, National Aluminium Company, has reportedly issued its performance report of fiscal 2019 ended on March 31, registering the best financial and production performance in a decade. With the net profit of INR 1,732 crore, Nalco posted a 29 per cent jump from the previous financial year. In fiscal 2018, Nalco’s net profit had come in at INR 1342.19 crore, INR 390 crore lesser than FY2019.

Despite the year-on-year 9 per cent decline in net profit during the fourth quarter, amounting at INR 233 crore, the company has extended its soaring performance.

Nalco’s net sales turnover for the financial year has come in at INR 11,386 crore, up 21 per cent over the year. Export earning of INR 4792.71 crore has also registered a growth of 18 per cent, compared to the year last.

Now coming to the production performance, Nalco’s Panchpatmali Mines, with 100 per cent capacity utilisation, has achieved bauxite excavation of 74.14 lakh tonnes, highest since inception. Bauxite transportation has soared to 72.31 lakh tonnes, which is also highest since inception.

Nalco chairman TK Chand has attributed these results to tight cost control backed by its best-ever performance on the production side. “We became the lowest cost producer of bauxite in the world in FY2019. And in alumina production, we achieved a rate higher than 21 lakh tonnes, which is the normative capacity of the refinery,” said Chand.

Steam and Power Plant (SPP) of Alumina Refinery achieved highest-ever net power generation. Further, aluminium smelter achieved the highest cast metal production of 4.40 lakh tonnes in the last 8 years.

Nalco’s strong performance in the domestic metal sale is also worth noting, as it has recorded a highest-ever growth of INR 4.02 lakh tonnes during FY2019.