IMIDRO: Iran’s annual aluminum output exceeded 276,000 tons in March

Iran produced 276,575 tons of aluminum in the year to March 2019, according to figures by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

Of this figure 53 percent pertained to Iranian Aluminum Company (IRALCO), the central Iranian province of Markazi, and the rest to Almahdi and Hormozal aluminum companies, both located in the southern Iranian province of Hormouzgan, IRNA wrote.

In this period, IRALCO, Hormozal and Almahdi each produced 146,454 tons, 77,326 tons and 52,795 tons of aluminum respectively.

In addition, in the same time span, IRALCO’s aluminum billet production reached 13,666 tons.

Iran is the world’s 18th biggest aluminum producer and plans to increase its annual aluminum billet output to 1.5 million tons by 2025.

In addition, Iran Alumina Company in the northeastern province of North Khorasan produced 237,563 tons of alumina powder, 719,537 tons of bauxite and 404,165 tons of aluminum hydroxide in the year to March 2019.

Iran plans to raise its annual aluminum production capacity to 800,000 tons by 2021.

At present, construction of an aluminum company in Lamerd in the southern Iranian province of Fars is 80 percent complete. Some $1.2 billion have been invested in the implementation of the project.

Once completed, the first phase of the factory will produce 300,000 tons of aluminum billets per year, create 1,200 jobs and help improve the country’s world ranking in the production of the strategic metal by four spots.

Earlier, IMIDRO announced that Iran exported minerals and mining industry products valued at $9.22 billion in the year to March 2019, of which $178 million (4,920 tons) pertained to domestic aluminum production chain.

In the same duration, the country imported 3,109 tons of aluminum products worth $6.21 million.

During the same period, Iran exported 22 tons of aluminum powder valued at $16,000. This comes as the product’s imports stood at 9,312 tons worth $6.17 million in this time span.

Exports by the domestic mining sector in the same 12-month period to March 2019 accounted for 49 percent and 21 percent of the country’s total non-oil exports in terms of weight and value respectively.

source: Iran Daily