28 May 2018 15:04

Tajikistan's Talco could boost aluminum output 60% in 2018

DUSHANBE. May 28 (Interfax) - Tajikistan's national aluminum company, Talco, plans to produce 168,800 tonnes of primary aluminum this year, according to its own forecasts, which were incorporated into a national Industrial Development Strategy for 2018-2030.

That would be 64% more than the 103,000 tonnes Talco produced in 2017, when output fell 20% compared to 2016.

Primary aluminum production should rise to 349,000 tonnes in 2020. Talco should be producing 339,000 tonnes in 2025 and 380,000 tonnes in 2030.

The Economic Development and Trade Ministry said aluminum production fell in 2017 due partly to a reduction in the number of electrolysis baths and delay in supply of petroleum coke.

Reports said last autumn that Talco and China's Yunnan were planning to build a new aluminum smelter in Tajikistan at a cost of $1.5 billion-to $1.6 billion. The plant would have fully automated electrolysis baths, capacity 540 kA, and would be capable of producing 503,000 tonnes of aluminum per year. It would take 18 months to build.

Talco has also signed a memorandum on cooperation with China's Yunnan Construction & Investment Group, China Road and Bridge Corporation and General Nice Investment Ltd to upgrade the existing smelter.

Tajikistan's state-owned Talco aluminum works, built in 1975 with French technology, is central Asia's biggest smelter and is capable of producing 517,000 tonnes of aluminum per year. The smelter used to be known as Tadaz, and became a state unitary enterprise in April 2007.