DUSHANBE, May 11, 2014, Asia-Plus – Over the first three months of this year, Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) has reportedly produced 36,000 tons of primary aluminum for a total amount of 79.5 million somoni, according to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT).
“Over the same period last year, TALCO produced 59,500 tons of aluminum for a total amount of 137.6 million somoni,” an official source at a MoEDT in an interview.
According to him, decrease in aluminum production has resulted from the fall in the international aluminum prices.
Over the same three-month period, TALCO has imported a total of 64.6 million U.S. dollars worth of alumina while aluminum exports for the report period have amounted to 67.1 million U.S. dollars.
The number of employees at Tajik aluminum smelter has reportedly decreased from 10,798 people in 2010 to 8,318 8d people this year.
According to prognostic data from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, aluminum production in Tajikistan will fall to 150,000 tons this year.
We will recall that Tajikistan last year produced 216,400 tons of primary aluminum, which was 20.6 percent fewer than in 2012. In 2013, Tajikistan exported 197,000 tons of aluminum.
As of may 8, 2014, the international price for one ton of primary aluminum was 1,771.50 U.S. dollars. This year, the highest international price for one ton of primary aluminum was reported on April 24 – 1,873.25 U.S. dollars.
TALCO is one of the ten largest aluminum smelters in the world and provides up to 70% of the country’s foreign currency earnings, consuming 40% of the country’s electrical power. TALCO is wholly owned by the Tajik government. Tajikistan does not mine alumina but imports the raw material through tolling arrangements.
Construction of the Tajik aluminum plant (TadAZ) began in 1972, and the first pouring of aluminum took place on March 31, 1975. On April 3, 2007, TadAZ was officially renamed to TALCO – Tajik Aluminum Company.
