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Representatives of the domestic aluminium industry met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday seeking government intervention and protection from cheaper imports.
The meeting comes days after the Directorate-General of Safeguards recommended a safeguard duty on flat steel product imports which would bring a relief to the domestic industry.
“We met the Finance Minister to represent the case of the aluminium industry and the difficulties we are facing. He gave us a patient hearing and now we will have to hope for the best,” said D Satish Pai, Deputy Managing Director, Hindalco.
Pai was also joined by Tom Albanese, Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Resources Plc, and other senior officials from the industry.
According to data from the Aluminium Association of India, cheaper imports have had a significant impact on the domestic industry. The domestic capacity of 41 lakh tonnes an annum is currently operating at 50 per cent.
The market share of domestic manufacturers has dropped to 44 per cent in 2014-15 with imports nearly doubling to 15.63 lakh tonne from 8.81 lakh tonne in 2010-11.
When asked if the Finance Minister had given them any assurance, Pai said, “He is fully aware of our current situation. I think he also understands the situation and we are quite sure he will take the right call.”
The falling price of the metal on the benchmark London Metal Exchange and rising imports have forced Vedanta to shut down the rolling mill of group company BALCO and also begin the process of shutting down its Lanjigarh alumina refinery.
On August 27, the company said, “Aluminium prices worldover have collapsed in the past few months and the current indications are that this trend will continue. Our Lanjigarh operations have additionally been affected by the non-availability of bauxite from within Odisha. As a result, our cost of production is significantly higher and is impacting the viability of our Lanjigarh operations…..we seem to be left with no choice but to implement a gradual closure.”
Asked if other companies will follow suit, Pai said, “That is for the individual companies to answer. Today, we were here as an industry to represent our case.”
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