Nalco's Exports To West Asia Hit by Geopolitical Tensions
The company further said that smelters in West Asia are currently operating at reduced capacity and will not reach full capacity immediately
New Delhi: The exports of state-run National Aluminium Company Ltd’s (Nalco) to West Asia have been affected by geopolitical tensions in the region, according to its chairman and managing director (CMD), Brijendra Pratap Singh.
West Asia accounts for 40-50 per cent of the company's alumina shipments. The Nalco also said that a shift in export destinations due to supply disruptions in West Asia has contributed to a decline in global spot alumina prices, which have now fallen to $305-310 per tonne.
Alumina is a white, granular material refined from bauxite ore, primarily used as the feedstock for producing aluminium. The Nalco CMD, in the earnings conference call, said, “On our alumina export to the Middle East, a lot of around 40 per cent, 50 percent of our export was going to the Middle East, which has been affected. But now, from Indonesia and other places also, orders are there. Of course, that has resulted in a reduction in the spot prices,” he said.
The company further said that smelters in West Asia are currently operating at reduced capacity and will not reach full capacity immediately. “So once these smelters of the Middle East, the production curtailment is there till they reach the fullest capacity, there will be an effect on the alumina pricing in the spot markets,” it said.
Nalco produced 23 lakh tonnes of alumina in 2025-26, of which 13.08 lakh tonnes were exported. Nalco reported a 16.6 per cent drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,722.44 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, on the back of lower revenue and higher expenses. The company had posted a consolidated profit of Rs 2,067.23 crore in the year-ago period.
