The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) has reportedly reduced aluminum production in connection with modernization of production facilities.
Over the first six months of this year, Tajik aluminum smelter has produced 54,800 tons of primary aluminum, which is 3,000 tons less than in the same period last year, the Minister of Industry ad New Technologies, Shavkat Bobozoda, told reporters in Dushanbe on August
According to him, decline in aluminum production has resulted from ongoing major repairs at the aluminum smelter.
“The state-of-the-art equipment will be installed at the plant that will allow reducing electricity consumption three times,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan has reportedly exported some 48,000 tons of primary aluminum over the same six-month period and more than 4,000 tons of primary aluminum has been processed into manufactured goods in Tajikistan itself over the report period.
Recall, Tajikistan last year exported some 103,000 tons of primary aluminum, which is 29,000 tons less than in 2016. In 2017, the international price for one ton of primary aluminum was 1,970 U.S. dollars.
The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is one of the ten largest aluminum smelters in the world. It consumes more than 30 percent 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. THz Tajik aluminum smelter has a rated capacity of 517,000 tons of primary aluminum per year. On April 3, 2007, TadAZ was officially renamed to TALCO – Tajik Aluminum Company.
