Bloomberg / Mumbai July 18, 2008, 0:05 IST National Aluminium, which had cut production last month because of coal shortage, plans to import 100,000 metric tonnes of fuel to prevent another disruption at a time when prices of the lightweight metal are record-high. The company, India's biggest alumina maker, will purchase thermal coal from countries including Indonesia in two months, Chairman C R Pradhan said in an interview. Last month, it bought 30,000 tonnes at an average Rs 8,000 ($186) a tonne, he said. Aluminium Corporation of China and 19 producers in the Asian nation last week pledged to cut output by as much as 10 per cent because of a power shortage, sending the metal soaring last week. Production at National Aluminium fell 30 per cent for six days in June after supplies from Coal India to its 960 mw power plant were disrupted by a strike. "Shutting down operations will create problems, which we want to avoid at any cost,'' Pradhan said. "By importing, we can avoid the troubles that we encountered earlier.'' Coal used to fire power plants will average $180 a tonne next year, compared with a previous forecast of $140 a tonne, Macquarie Group said last week, citing