UAE accounts for 20% of aluminium alloy import by India

India is a net exporter of aluminium. At the same time, the country imports a large volume of aluminium to use in different downstream applications in the automotive, construction and defence sector.  Imports now account for 56 per cent of domestic demand. The import is mostly driven by lower cost as imported aluminium is cheaper than domestically produced aluminium.

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Imports of aluminium alloys stood at 189317 tons in 2014. The volume increased slightly to 207375 tons in 2015. In 2016, the aluminium alloy import is estimated to increase to 243393 tons. The data shows a constant rise in import of aluminium alloys. The imports are mainly driven by UAE and China. In the year 2014, India imported 30588 tons of aluminium alloys from UAE. The import from UAE had an upward trend since then. The volume increased to 39664 tons in 2015 and it is estimated to be about 40107 tons in 2016.


Import from China picked during 2015 at 9136 tons, but it is estimated to drop to 6211 tons in 2016. Other exporting countries are Saudi Arabia, UK, Oman & South Africa.
Aluminium alloy is imported for Defence and Space applications in India. On the domestic front, Hindalco produces alloy ingots of various grades, which are further processed to manufacture casting products. The alloys are re-melted and further processed into a large number of value added products for a number of downstream applications in the auto industry and in electrical applications.



Nalco produces aluminium various alloys ingots and billets. It has a world class billet casting facility for hard and soft alloys.

Vedanta’s cast house in Smelter Phase, Jharsuguda has been designed to produce 550,000 tonnes of cast products per year. It also produces standard ingot, alloys ingots and billets.

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The new “Make in India” campaign is designed to encourage application of domestically produced products and services. India presently produces about 2.2 million tons of aluminium and the per capita consumption is growing to reach a level of 3kgs recently.  A study commissioned recently by India’s aluminium industry recommended the imposition of an import duty or minimum import price (MIP) upon aluminium and aluminium alloys.

Import of aluminium is expected to drop once raw material availability is assured and energy cost is minimised for domestic producers and they start producing name plate capacity and expand production capacity to cater to the domestic demand.

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