Iran’s state-run metals and mining company IMIDRO has reported a fall of nearly 5% in the country’s annual aluminum production.
IMIDRO figures released on Sunday showed that four major smelters in Iran had produced some 604,526 metric tons (mt) of aluminum ingots in the calendar year that ended on March 20, down from 635,596 mt reported in the year before.
IMIDRO figures showed that Iran’s largest aluminum smelter, the South Aluminum Corporation (SALCO), had been responsible for more than 243,705 mt, or over 40% of the country’s total aluminum output, in the past calendar year.
SALCO came on line in 2018 as part of the Iranian government’s plans to boost aluminum production in the country and to create jobs for the youth in the southern province of Fars and areas near the Persian Gulf.
The second largest smelter IRALCO, located in the central Iranian city of Arak, churned out nearly 175,119 mt of aluminum ingots in the year to late March while production at the Al-Mahdi Aluminum, located in the southern province of Hormozgan, reached 152,478 mt over the same period, IMIDRO said.
It added that Iran Alumina, a relatively small smelter located in northeast Iran, had produced 33,224 mt of aluminum in the past calendar year.
IMIDRO said that Iran Alumina, which is also the largest supplier of raw ingredients for aluminum production in Iran, had produced 232,011 mt of alumina powder, some 390,8871 mt of aluminum hydroxide, and 725,335 mt of bauxite (aluminum ore) in the year to late March, up respectively by 4%, 4%, and 21%, compared to the previous calendar year.