Hindalco Industries is a major non-ferrous metal company in India, and they have been strengthening their sales of alumina products and others in Japan. We conducted an interview with Mr. Suman Bal, Specialty Alumina & Chemicals Business CSMO (Chief Sales & Marketing Officer), who happened to be visiting Japan, and asked him about the advantages of the company’s products and the company’s sales plans going forward.
―What is the purpose of your visit to Japan?
“The main purpose of my visit is to participate and observe the 16th International Rechargeable Battery Expo (Battery Japan). Hindalco set up a booth at the expo to propose our high performance alumina and aluminum foils suited for the lithium-ion battery (LIB) market. We would like to promote our company’s high value-added products to Japan’s battery industry, and we would also like to propose products for use in the semiconductor industry, whose market is expanding in Japan.”
―What kind of business do you conduct in Japan?
“In the past we conducted sales of alumina products and others through trading companies, and in November 2022 we established our Japan branch and have been working on expanding our business. We handle alumina and carbon products. Most notably in the case of high performance alumina products, we have mainly been proposing the products to the refractory, glass and ceramics fields while also making proposals to high-end product markets, such as the semiconductor material and LIB material markets.”
“In terms of carbon products, from a year ago we have begun handling electrode carbon pastes, which are used in electric arc furnaces. We have passed the testing conducted by major ferroalloy companies, and so we can expect to see sales on a regular basis. In addition, it has been decided that trials will be carried out for products for use by major manufacturers in South Korea, which has a larger market than Japan. Due to these circumstances, we have decided to establish a local branch in South Korea.”
“As for our copper business, we are considering importing scrap from Japan to India toward making full-fledged efforts to increase production in 2025. However, we are still at the stage of examining various possibilities since Japan’s copper supply is currently tightening and also because of the BIS restrictions issue.”
―What kinds of products are you proposing at the expo?
“We have been exhibiting and proposing our ‘UFB (Ultra Fine Boehmite) series’ for the first time in the world. The ‘UFB series’ are products using boehmite, which is a by-product of alumina refining. We believe that coating LIB separators with this product will contribute to improving the performance of LIB since it not only stabilizes thermal conductivity but it also prevents thermal expansion during charging. In addition, we exhibited the ‘SMA series’, which are alumina products for coating separators, and also the ‘HCA series’, which are thermal interface materials for LIB.”
“Furthermore, we are aiming to conduct global sales of LIB cathode aluminum foils, and so we would like to make proposals to the Japanese market as well. Our company has been making large investments in Nagpur Plant and Odisha (Orissa) Plant, and by 2027 we will establish the necessary operations to produce a total of 27,400 tons with those 2 plants. We would like to propose our high quality products to potential customers.”
―What are some of the other defining characteristics of your company?
“We have been focusing our efforts on environmentally friendly measures. Recently our company has been recognized as ‘the world’s most sustainable aluminum company’ for its sustainability performance in the 2023 edition of S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). Counting from 2020, this is the fourth year in a row for our company to be recognized as such by DJSI. Going forward, we will continue to actively invest in human resources, technologies and facilities.”
