Trump’s charges will not have any bad effect: Satish Pai – Trumps Charges will not have any bad effect –

Hindalco Industries plans to conclude FY 25 on operations in India with a capital expenditure of Rs 6,000 crore. It is expected to spend Rs 8,000 crore in the next year. The company’s managing director Satish Pai said in a virtual interview with that he hoped that Nellis’s performance would improve in the fourth quarter, no negative impact of the US charges. He also said that China’s aluminum imports in India are no longer cheap. Major excerpts…

India’s operational performance of the third quarter helped to remove the softening of Novelis. Do you think this trend will remain in the next few quarters too?

Novelis will improve in the fourth quarter. Both India and Novelis should perform better in the March quarter and it should be a good quarter. The third quarter novelis (in case of) usually remains soft because they maintain their own during the holidays. This further deteriorated due to scrap spread tightness. But sales will improve in the fourth quarter.

What is the scenario of both your markets – India and America in terms of American charges on aluminum?

Trump’s charges are not negative for our Indian business because we do not export anything to America. We are not affected. By the way, what is happening in the US is positive from neutral (for novelis) to him as the midwest (premium) will increase the benefit of the scrap.

There are concerns that the export to the US will be sent to other markets due to the US fee. What is the possibility of its impact on your other export markets?

90 percent of the primary aluminum that the US uses comes from the same country – Canada. It is not that a lot of aluminum is going there from many different parts of the world. I do not expect worldwide

Aluminum prices will be affected. Regional premium is affected.

A few quarter ago you expressed concern over imports from China for aluminum. Are you still seeing those concerns?

No, what China has done is more important than trump charges. That is, they have removed 13 percent VAT exemption. China’s import prices have increased in India. China is probably removing its subsidy to protect itself from American fees. With the removal of this 13 percent discount, it has become more expensive for China to export aluminum. They will not be able to dump at very low prices in India.

Any information on Novelis’s IPO schemes?

Currently we have to bring Novelis back to the level of $ 500 per ton. We have to complete the Bay Minnet project which is to be commissioned in September 2026. Until both these things do not happen, the IPO is not priority at the moment. Not thinking about this for at least one more year.

First Published – February 14, 2025 | 10:50 PM IST

Related post