Iran has reported a slight fall in aluminum output from seven months to late October.
The state-run metals and mining company IMIDRO said on Sunday that aluminum ingot output in four major smelters in Iran reached 352,423 metric tons (mt) in the seven months to October 21, down from 367,091 mt reported in the same period last year.
IMIDRO figures showed that Iran’s largest aluminum smelter, the South Aluminum Corporation (SALCO), was responsible for more than 144,000 mt, or nearly 41% of the country’s total output, in April-October.
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 population in the southern province of Fars and areas near the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s second largest smelter IRALCO, located in the central city of Arak, churned out nearly 101,000 mt of aluminum ingots in the seven months to late October while production at the Al-Mahdi Aluminum, located in the southern province of Hormozgan, reached 87,227 mt over the same period, IMIDRO said.
It added that Iran Alumina, a relatively small smelter located in northeast Iran, produced just below 20,000 mt of aluminum in the April-October period.
IMIDRO figures showed that Iran Alumina, which is also the largest supplier of raw ingredients for aluminum production in Iran, had produced 138,859 mt of alumina powder, some 232,851 mt of aluminum hydroxide, and 459,409 mt of bauxite (aluminum ore) over the seven months to late October, up respectively by 2%, 2% and 40%, compared to the same period in 2023.