Tajikistan's Talco reduces aluminum production 19% in H1
DUSHANBE. July 31 (Interfax) - Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco) reduced production of primary aluminum by 18.7% year-on-year to 117,600 tonnes in the first half of 2013, Tajikistan's Economic Development and Trade Ministry reported.
However, despite the dramatic drop in output, the ministry still believes that aluminum production for the year will reach the forecast of 287,600 tonnes.
The average price for Tajik aluminum was $1,914 per tonne in the first half, down from $2,080 in the first half of 2012.
Tajikistan's aluminum exports plunged 28.7% year-on-year to $216.7 million in the first half, data from the Statistics Agency show. Aluminum as a share of total exports tumbled 10 percentage points in this period to 35.4%.
Production of primary aluminum in Tajikistan slumped 1.8% to 272,500 tonnes in 2012, which was largely attributed to weaker world prices for the metal, as well as disruptions in imports of natural gas from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan's main supplier of gas.
The Tajik Aluminum Smelter was built in 1975 and renamed Talco in April 2007. The state company has capacity to produce 517,000 tonnes of aluminum annually.