Overview of the Aluminium Industry

Industry overview

India is worlds fifth largest aluminium producer which accounts for almost 5%  of worlds total production. Aluminium industry of India is very much concentrated and majority of the production is done by a handful of companies. Increasing demand of the metal is making the industry grow at a very fast speed. As per the data per capita consumption of aluminium in country (less than 1 kg) is much lower than global standards and usage but the demand is growing incessantly . The list of industries that are regular customers of the metal are Power ,consumer durables , transportation, construction and packaging, etc.

The metal industry in country is a major sector as it furnishes the demand of various other industries such as engineering,  electrical and electronics, infrastructure ,automobile components etc.

In India there are more than 200 bauxite mines in operations. Most of these are small open cast and manually operated. Fifteen major deposits account for 75% of the country's production. These are mostly the captive bauxite mines of the major alumina producers in the country and the mines of Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC).

Planned investment of around 1 trillion USD in infrastructure spread over a short period of 2012-2017 according to the data of 12^th five year plan will provide some good time for the metal industry.

Power is the main component of cost involved in the whole process therefore producers are located at places near cheap and abundant supply of power or where power is produced. India is also the cheapest place to produce this metal due to access to captive power, cheap labour and proximity to abundant supply of material,i.e., bauxite.

Competitive analysis

The Major Players in Domestic market

 

The Indian aluminium industry is dominated by four or five companies that constitute the majority of India's aluminium production. Following are the major players in the Indian aluminium industry

• Hindustan Aluminium Company (HINDALCO)
• National Aluminium Company (NALCO)
• Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO)
• MALCO
• INDAL

Companies are investing in aluminium sector which is an indicator of continuous and vast growth that is happening in the industry scenario.

Product service analysis

The non-ferrous metal is used in producing a wide range of products like  laundry detergent, cement, aspirin, roofing, soda cans, house siding, spark plugs, foil containers, foil wraps, makeup, appliances, fluorescent light bulbs, dishwashers, cookware coatings, chemicals, deodorant, polishing compounds, household siding, antacids, toothpaste, multiple type of transportation vehicles, etc.. Almost all the industries that are mentioned use the metal heavily to support their infrastructure as well as building up their production.

Environmental analysis

The entire process of producing the metal from bauxite ore consumes a lot of electricity, water etc. It also produces a long list of by products during the process of smelting and processing which are very harmful . But a better option could be recycling of the metal which will leave a lot of energy for other processes.