Iran set for landmark jump of 70% in aluminum output
Tehran (KNA) - Iran’s aluminum production is headed for a major rise of 70% when a new smelter comes online early next year, making the country self-sufficient in the strategic metal, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Mehdi Karbasian has said.
The South Aluminum Corp (Salco) smelter, being built in the city of Lamerd near the Persian Gulf, is about to add 300,000 tonnes per year of new capacity in the first phase to Iran's current 400,000 tonnes of aluminum production.
The country's aluminum consumption is less than 700,000 tonnes, and the operation of the new plant means Iran will need no more imports of the metal which is widely used in transportation, packaging, construction, electrical industry, consumer durables and machinery.
However, it will still need to import the raw ore bauxite or the refined ore alumina from which aluminum is made. According to Karbasian, bauxite resources discovered in the country so far are not sufficient enough to meet its demands.
Iranian Aluminum Company (Iralco) in the central city of Arak and Al Mahdi Aluminum Complex in Bandar Abbas are currently the two operational smelters which partially depend on alumina imports from India and bauxite from Guinea.
Source: Press TV