National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is likely to increase the metal prices by Rs 2,000-3,000 a tonne with effect from April in sync with firming global prices.

According to Nalco sources, a decision on the impending price rise will be taken tomorrow and the hike will be effective April 1.

However, when contacted, the Nalco acting Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Mr B.L. Bagra, said as a matter of policy, the company does not give any price outlook.

The sources, however, said the price rise was necessary to ensure parity with import prices and to pass on the rise in input costs. Dollar’s weakness has also contributed to the rise in aluminium prices. At the London Metal Exchange (LME), aluminium is currently hovering at around $2,570 a tonne.

Global production of aluminium currently stands at 39-40 million tonnes per annum. Demand also stands at around the same level. Meanwhile, some smelters have been closed in China in the recent past leading to firming up of prices, they said.

They, however, added the current “small” demand-supply mismatch is only a temporary phenomenon as with the firming up of prices, the closed smelters have again resumed operation.

Nalco, the second-biggest producer of aluminium in the country, raised the prices in January, but corrected them in the third week of the month as global prices slackened. It again raised the prices by Rs 6,000 to around Rs 1.21 lakh a tonne in February, but reduced them by Rs 2,500 per tonne in March.

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