Overview
Hindalco in India enjoys a leadership position in
Aluminium and Copper. The Company's aluminium units
across the country encompass the entire gamut of
operations from bauxite mining, alumina refining,
aluminium smelting to downstream rolling, extrusions,
foils and alloy wheels, along with captive
power plants and coal mines. The Birla Copper unit
produces copper cathodes, continuous cast copper
rods along with other by-products, including gold,
silver and DAP fertilisers.
All
of Hindalco's units are ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004
and OHSAS 18001 certified. The Renukoot and Taloja
units have gone a step further with an Integrated
Management System (IMS), combining ISO 9001, ISO
14001 and OHSAS 18001 into one Business Excellence
Model.
The
company has been accorded the Star Trading House
status in India. Its aluminium metal is accepted
for delivery under the High Grade Aluminium Contract
on the LME (London Metal Exchange), while its
copper quality standards are also internationally
recognised and registered on the LME with
Grade “A” accreditation.
Aluminium
Hindalco’s major products include Standard
and Speciality Grade Aluminas & Hydrates, Aluminium
Ingots, Billets, Wire Rods, Flat Rolled Products,
Extrusions, Foil and Alloy Wheels.
The
integrated facility at Renukoot, (Uttar Pradesh)
houses an Alumina Refinery and an Aluminium Smelter
along with facilities for production of semi-fabricated
products, namely,Redraw Rods, Flat Rolled Products
and Extrusions. The plant is backed by a co-generation
plant and a 742mw captive power plant at Renusagar
to ensure continuous and consistent supply of power
for smelter and other operations.
Other facilities include an Aluminium Smelter
at Hirakud (Orissa), with a captive power plant
and coal mine, Alumina Refineries at Muri (Jharkhand),
and Belgaum (Karnataka), and rolling mills at
Belur (West Bengal), and Taloja, Mouda (Maharashtra),
foil rolling at Kalwa (Maharashta) and Silvassa
(UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli) and an extrusions
plant at Alupuram (Kerala).
The
aluminium alloy wheels plant is located at Silvassa
(Dadra and Nagar Haveli). Hindalco was among the
first few alloy wheels companies to have obtained
the ISO/TS 16949 certification to meet the stringent
standard of the automobile industry.
A
strong presence across the value chain and synergies
in operations has given Hindalco a major share
of the domestic value-added products market. In
India, the company enjoys a leadership position
in Speciality Aluminas and Hydrates as well as
in Primary Aluminium and downstream semi-fabricated
products. As a step towards expanding the market
for value-added products and services, Hindalco
has launched several brands in recent years. These
include the Aura Aluminium Alloy Wheels for cars,
Everlast Roofing Sheets and Freshwrapp and Freshpakk
household foil for packaging.
Hindalco's
Aluminium Galleries in Mumbai and Gurgaon showcase
the versatility of aluminium through a wide range
of applications.
Apart
from being a major player in the domestic market,
Hindalco's products are well accepted in international
markets. Exports account for more than 20 per
cent of total sales of aluminium products.
Expansions:
Brownfield
Hindalco is augmenting its smelter and captive power
generation capacity at Hirakud in Orissa. After
the Phase I smelter expansion to 100,000 tpa, metal
capacity is being further enhanced to 143,000 tpa.
The existing smelter pot technology has been successfully
modernised from Soderberg to the more efficient
pre-baked system — marking the first ever such
technological change over in the country. Power
generation capacity has been expanded to 267.5 mw
and further enhancement of 100mw will push capacity
to 367.5mw.
The
Alumina capacity at the Company’s Muri (Jharkhand)
plant is being raised from 110,000 tpa to 450,000
tpa. Likewise, a plan for enhancement of capacity
at Belgaum (Karnataka) is under evaluation.
Expansions:
Greenfield
Aditya
Aluminium project, Orissa
Aditya Aluminium includes a Rs. 110 billion
(USD 2.4 billion) greenfield integrated aluminium
complex including Bauxite Mining at Kodingamali
and other mines of Orissa; 1.5million tpa Alumina
Refinery and 325,000 tpa Smelter in Rayagada and
Sambalpur districts. The smelter will be backed
by a 750mw Captive Power Plant with a captive
coal mine and suitable port handling and storage
facilities. The Orissa Government has granted
SEZ status to the Aluminium project.
Mahan
Aluminium project, Madhya Pradesh
A Rs.77 billion (USD 1.7 billion) project for
a Smelter-Power Complex to be set up in the Siddhi
district of Madhya Pradesh with Aluminium Smelter
capacity of 325,000 tpa supported by a 750 mw
coal based captive power plant. The coal for the
power plant will be sourced from Mahan Coal Company
Ltd., a joint venture between Hindalco and Essar
Group for mining of coal from the Mahan coal block.
The state government has granted SEZ status to
the project.
Latehar
project, Jharkhand
A Rs.78 billion (USD 1.7 billion) project for
a smelter-power complex to be set up in the Latehar
district of Jharkhand with Aluminium Smelter capacity
of 325,000 tpa supported by captive thermal power
of 750 mw. A captive coal mine has been allotted
for the project.
Joint
venture
Hindalco Almex Aerospace Limited joint venture
has been formed with Almex USA for the manufacture
of high strength aluminium alloys for application
in the aerospace, sporting goods and surface transport
industries. Hindalco holds 70 per cent equity
with the balance held by Almex. The joint venture
envisages a project outlay of Rs.155 crore at
a production level of 46,000 tonnes. The project
has been granted SEZ status and is progressing
on schedule.
Copper
Hindalco's Birla Copper Unit at Dahej
in Gujarat is the world's largest single location
custom copper smelter with 500,000 tpa capacity.
The plant is backed by captive power plants, oxygen
plants, as also by product facilities for fertilisers
and precious metals. A captive jetty with cargo
handling capacity of
over 4 million tpa, facilitates easy input of
copper concentrate and other imported raw materials.
In
2005, the Dahej Copper Plant was accredited with
OHSAS-18001 certification by KPMG, Netherlands.
Hindalco's
Birla Copper Cathode is a trusted brand. Known
for high purity (99.99 per cent) and consistent
quality, these are largely used in the manufacture
of copper rods for the wire and cable industry
and copper tubes for consumer durable goods. They
are also used for making alloys such as, brass,
bronze and alloy steel. They find application
in diverse areas such as defence, mint, construction
and the electrical industry.
Matching
international quality standards, with excellent
surface finish makes Hindalco's Continuous Cast
Copper Rods suitable for processing of enamelled,
coated and plated wires used in power and communication
cables, strips for power and distribution for
transformers, magnet wires and zari manufacturing.
As
a value-added by-product, Hindalco produces Di-Ammonium
Phosphate (DAP) and Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium
(NPK) complexes, which are used as fertilisers.
Hindalco's Birla Balwan is a branded fertiliser
commanding a
strong market position in India's agricultural
sector. Sulphuric acid, copper slag, phospho-gypsum
and Aluminium Fluoride are other by-products
The
Precious Metals Refinery at Dahej produces gold,
silver and selenium. The residue after extraction
of these precious metals contains traces of Platinum
and Palladium that are sold as Platinum Group Metal
mix, commonly known as PGM.
Mines
The
two copper mines in Australia were acquired in 2003.
Birla Nifty mine consists of an open-pit mine, heap
leach pads and a solvent extraction and electrowinning
(SXEW) processing plant, which produces copper cathode.
Birla Nifty's copper cathode capacity is 25,000
tpa.
A copper sulphide deposit is located at the lower
levels of the Nifty open pit mine and an underground
mine and concentrator have been developed to mine
and process ore from this deposit. The Nifty sulphide
operation commenced ore production from stoping
in December 2005 and concentrate production in March
2006. With the start-up of the Nifty sulphide operation
and its progressive ramp up during FY2007, Aditya
Birla Minerals (ABML) is entering a period of rapid
growth.
Birla Mt.Gordon operation consists of Mammoth underground
and Esperanza open pit mines. It has ability to
produce both copper in concentrate through a standard
floatation plant and copper cathodes through a ferric
leach plant. Cathode operations were suspended in
January 2006 following the exhaustion of Esperanza
open pit mine. The copper concentrator was commissioned
to provide concentrate for use at the operations
at Dahej.
Mt
Gordon operation hosts a large mineral resource
of approximately 500 kt of copper within the Mammoth
and Esperanza ore systems which provide a significant
opportunity for mine life extension going forward.
The
Birla Mt.Gordon mine has existing reserves for
only one more year of operation. New reserves
are expected to be proved on an annual basis as
drilling advances ahead of mining.
Aditya
Birla Minerals Limited (ABML) also has exploration
rights in the Patterson province of Western Australia,
famed for its rich copper ore deposits.
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