Hindalco halts production of extruded aluminum products due to Iran war

India’s Hindalco Industries has halted output of extruded aluminum, a value-added aluminum product, due to a gas shortage in the wake of supply disruptions in the Middle East, according to a company notice seen by Reuters and two sources.

The Aditya Birla Group-owned metals producer declared force majeure to all of its extruded aluminum customers on March 11, the notice showed.

Hindalco denied any halt to output for its extrusions business in a statement to Reuters.

However, the company said that it had issued a communication to extrusion customers after a force majeure declaration by certain gas suppliers and that it was a “routine business intimation regarding a potential supply disruption in a segment of the extrusions business.”

The aluminum extrusions segment constitutes a small portion of Hindalco’s production capacity, the company added, and the potential impact is currently limited to less than 0.1% of its overall operations.

“All other downstream, and upstream operations including primary aluminum, continue to operate normally, supported by captive power and alternate energy arrangements,” Hindalco said.

Extruded aluminum is used in construction, electric vehicles, electronics and solar panels.

India is reeling under its worst gas crisis in decades due to the US-Israeli war on Iran, with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from any shortage of cooking gas.

“Hindalco has taken and continues to take all reasonable steps to mitigate the impact of the force majeure event,” the company said in the notice.

Hindalco’s aluminum smelters, however, remain operational, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to media.

(By Neha Arora; Editing by Jamie Freed and Joe Bavier)