After the publication of Q1 2018 results, Nalco CMD TK Chand said alumina business is pushing up Nalco profitability. He said the PBT from alumina segment stood at INR 1125 crore. Nalco drives the alumina export segment in India every year being the top alumina producer and exporter. Nalco registered more than 100% capacity utilisation in Q1. The company is planning to produce 50,000 tonne more than the capacity in 2018. That will be a big boost to profitability and will boost alumina export further.
We are looking at the quarter on quarter alumina export trend by India in 2017 and the first quarter of 2018.
{alcircleadd}In Q1 CY 2018, India exported 377, 189 tonnes of alumina. For the entire year, the country is estimated to export 1. 5 million tonnes of alumina. The total export volume for alumina stood at 1.37 million tonnes in 2017 and the revenue stood at US$ 296 million. Following graph shows how the alumina export volume moved quarter on quarter in CY 2017 and the first quarter of CY 2018.
According to Nalco, in Q1 FY 2019 or Q2 CY 2018, the average price realisation for alumina was US$555 per tonne. It is quite high and in Q3 CY 2018, alumina prices are expected to be around US$520 or US$530. This indicates that the revenue from alumina export by India is expected to rise in Q3 CY 2018. With the present pricing of alumina, the revenue from alumina export by India is expected to stand at around US$ 188 million to US$ 200 million in Q2 and Q3 of CY 2018.
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