NALCO to raise alumina exports amid rupee plunge

National Aluminium Company (NALCO) plans to raise its alumina exports by 40 percent to 1.4 million tonne this fiscal year, its production chief said, helping the country increase its dollar inflow amid a plunge in the rupee.

Asia's third-largest economy is looking to boost exports and lower imports of commodities such as gold to arrest a steep fall in the rupee, which sank to its lowest on Tuesday.

The fall in the rupee has helped National Aluminium, better known as NALCO, raise its exports, said S.S. Mohapatra, the production director of the state-owned company.

The overseas shipments of NALCO, India's largest exporter of alumina, could raise about USD 400 million based on current prices.

"Our earnings will be proportionate to the rise of dollar," Mohapatra told Reuters, adding that NALCO was India's third-largest foreign exchange earning company last fiscal year.

The weakness in the rupee, which makes Indian products more competitive and inflates sales in the local currency, has also prompted steel companies such as state-owned Steel Authority of India and Jindal Steel & Power to raise exports.

NALCO plans to raise its alumina output by about 19 percent to 2.15 million tonnes for the fiscal year ending March 2014.

Its output of aluminium, produced by smelting alumina, would be about 300,000 tonne, out of which about 35-40 percent would be exported, Mohapatra said.

Also Read: Target 20% volume growth in alumina in FY14: NALCO