Aluminium industry says imports causing forex drain, urges PMO intervention

The Aluminium Association of India (AAI), which represents the entire spectrum of the domestic industry that manufactures and trades in the metal, on Tuesday apprised the Prime Minister Office (PMO) of its concerns over cheap aluminium imports. The association says inward shipments of the metal are not just hurting the domestic industry but are also creating a foreign exchange outgo of about $4.5 billion, in a scenario of growing trade deficit.

“We have made representations to the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Mines and now to the PMO. They have accepted the letter and are also agreeing that there is injury to the sector due to the ongoing trade war between China and the US,” a top aluminium producer told Business Standard.

Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco Industries, state-owned National Aluminium Co and Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd are the top three players of the domestic aluminium industry. Their combined annual output of four million tonnes can cater to the entire domestic market, where consumption is usually 3.1-3.6 mt. Excess production is exported by these companies. In such a situation, aluminium imports into India become totally non-essential.