News Round Up

August 201937METALWORLD

edanta is prioritizing Vcontrolling costs as it

embarks on expanding capacity,

according to the Chief Executive

Officer Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan.

According to a report,

Venkatakrishnan, who was the CEO

of Johannesburg-based AngloGold

Ashanti Ltd for five years before

taking the helm at Vedanta in 2018,

said that “Any expansion plans, we

will do it with the strictest capital

discipline and balance sheet focus.

We will control the purse strings

quite tightly.”

He further said that Vedanta

plans to double alumina capacity at

its refinery in the eastern state of

Odisha to 4 million tonnes over the

next 2.5 years and raise aluminum

Vedanta to expand capacity

smelter production capability by

30% to 3 million tonnes “at an all-in

cost of less than USD 1,500 a tonne.

He further said that “Every

business has to earn its right to

spend the capital before we spend

the capital. Hence, we said let’s first

drive the cost down before we actually

go ahead with the expansion.”

Owned by billionaire Anil

Agarwal, Vedanta plans to spend

USD 7.8 billion to boost output

across its businesses as it seeks to

tap into the demand created by

India’s ambitions of upgrading its

infrastructure. Capital expenditure

for the aluminum unit is estimated

at $100 million in the year ending

March, Venkatakrishnan said.

The company has been able to

bring aluminum production

expenses from USD 2,200 a tonne

last year to about USD 1,764

largely due to lower alumina

prices and higher coal supply

security, he said.

He added that “We are

targeting coal security of around

90% of our requirement from

around 72% now and that would

see our cost come down.”

EGA exports bauxite from Guinea

Emirates Global Aluminium

(EGA) has announced the

first exports of bauxite ore from

Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC),

its mining project in the Republic of

Guinea in West Africa.

The first exports of bauxite ore

from GAC mark the completion of

EGA’s strategic expansion

upstream in the aluminium value

chain to create an integrated

global aluminium giant. The GAC

project, and Al Taweelah alumina

refinery where EGA began

production in April, create new

revenue streams for EGA and

secure at competitive prices the

raw materials that the UAE’s

aluminium industry needs.

EGA's GAC project is one of

the largest greenfield

investments in Guinea in the last

40 years, and cost some $1.4

billion to develop. More than half

the funds were provided by the

largest greenfield mining project

financing ever in Guinea - a $750

million loan from development

finance institutions, export credit

agencies and international

commercial banks.

GAC is expected to make a

direct, indirect and induced

economic impact of some $700

million each year in Guinea once

production is fully ramped-up, a

5.5 per cent boost to the

national GDP.

SIAM requests forreducing GST

jan Wadhera, President, SIAM Ahas reiterated the request of

the Auto Industry for an immediate

reduction in the GST rate to 18%.

The need for an immediate

reduction in GST rates has been

agreed unanimously amongst all

members of the automobile

manufacturers including the two

wheeler OEMs. This was also

reiterated at a recent meeting with

the Finance Minister where all OEMs

representing passenger vehicles,

commercial vehicles and two

wheelers had actively participated.

Pawan Munjal, Chairman of

Hero MotoCorp, the largest

manufacturer of two wheelers in

India, had emphasised on this

point on immediate GST

reduction at this meeting with the

Finance Minister.