DUSHANBE, February 4, 2016, Asia-Plus — TALCO will play a certain role in increasing export potential of Tajikistan in the future, Tajik Minister of Economic Development and Trade Nematullo Hikmatullozoda announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on February 4.
According to him, there are all necessary prerequisites for increase in aluminum production in the country and the government intends ensure primary aluminum production growth through shifting the Tajik aluminum to domestic raw materials.
“Currently, the program of the resource provision for aluminum production is being implemented in Tajikistan, Hikmatullozoda said noting that the plant for production of cryolite with annual capacity of 12,000 tons is being built in the Yovon district.
The minister added that TALCO last year produced 139,000 tons of primary aluminum, which was 15 percent more than in 2014.
Meanwhile, Tajik Ministry of Industry and New Technologies Shavkat Bobozoda told reporters in Dushanbe on January 28 that Tajikistan increased aluminum exports last year. In 2015, Tajikistan reportedly exported 130,900 tons of primary aluminum, which was 5,900 tons more than in 2014.
Meanwhile,
Tajikistan Economic Update, No 2, Fall 2015
by the World Bank notes that the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO), the country’s largest state-owned enterprise (SOE), will attempt to expand its annual production capacity to 270,000 tons over the next two years in anticipation of a moderate increase in global aluminum prices.
However, the recent decline in global commodity prices casts doubt on previous projections, the World Bank report notes.
The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is one of the ten largest aluminum smelters in the world and provides considerable part of the country’s foreign currency earnings, consuming up to 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. The Tajik aluminum smelter had the capacity to produce 517,000 metric tons per year.
