Vedanta Aluminium launches 'Metal Bazaar' e-commerce platform for diverse aluminium products, eyes parent company separation in 9-12 months amid industry growth
Vedanta's Aluminium arm introduced its first-ever E-commerce venture, 'Metal Bazaar', aimed at facilitating the sale of its diverse product range within the metal segment. The platform offers over 750 product variants at launch and will feature AI-based price discovery, to tackle value discrepancies arising from fluctuating commodity prices.
The subsidiary firm is the largest producer of aluminium in the domestic space, accounting for more than half of the nation’s aluminium output, totaling 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It specialises in value-added aluminium products to cater to diverse industries such as automobile, aviation, infrastructure, and defense.
John Slaven, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium said, “As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, aluminium is essential to India’s continued rise. Vedanta Aluminium's this venture offers a world-class experience to a rapidly progressing nation, democratising access to top-quality aluminium by making it readily available to all sections.”
Last year, the Vedanta Group had announced plans to undergo a demerger, dividing its conglomerate into six separate listed companies. Slaven indicated that the demerger is expected to occur within the next 9-12 months, attributing the vast value and diverse operations of the company as the rationale behind the delay.
As per the company statement, the stock exchange has already issued the NOC for the demerger to SEBI. The company is presently in discussions with creditors regarding debt allocations. Upon obtaining SEBI's NOC, the scheme will be forwarded to the NCLT to seek an order for organizing members' and creditors' meetings.
The creation of independent verticals was officially announced on September 29th.
Aluminium, identified as a vital metal for the global energy transition, holds significance in sunrise sectors as well, such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, green infrastructure, and hi-tech manufacturing, earning it the moniker 'metal of the future.'
In the latest quarterly earnings report, production reached an all-time high at 599kt, up 6 per cent YoY and 1 per cent QoQ, while 9M production reached 1,772kt, up 3 per cent YoY. Vedanta Aluminium also witnessed a drop in quarterly aluminium CoP to 19 per cent YoY and 4 per cent QoQ, with a $900/t reduction over the past six quarters.
India currently consumes 5 million tonnes of aluminium annually. The metal company's total aluminium production for the current financial year is estimated at 2.4 million tonnes, with plans to increase production to 3 million tonnes in the upcoming years.