TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran reports 61% surge in aluminum output for fiscal year to March . Iran’s aluminum production in the year to March rose 61% from the prior year to nearly half a million tons, according to a report by the country’s state-run metals and mining conglomerate IMIDRO.
The report covered by the official IRNA news agency on Saturday said that total output in four major aluminum smelters in Iran had reached 0.4468 million tons, up from 0.2783 million tons reported for the year to March 2020.
It said the Iranian Aluminium Company (IRALCO) had the highest share of production at 185,000 tons. It was followed by Al Mahdi, Iran’s largest aluminum smelter on the Persian Gulf which includes Hormozal smelter, at 165,000 tons.
Production at Salco, a smelter set up in late 2019 in southern Iran, topped 72,100 tons while Iran Alumina Company churned out 25,400 tons, showed IMIDRO figures.
Production in four smelters rose by 38% to 41,000 tons in the final month of the fiscal year compared to the month to March 20, 2020, said the report.
Iran has seen an increased activity in its metals and mining sector since the United States imposed sanctions on the country’s crude exports in 2018.
Reports suggest that exports of metals have been responsible for a significant portion of government’s hard currency revenues in recent years.
A senior IMIDRO official said in early March that the metals and mining sector in Iran had expanded by at least six percent over the last calendar year despite a global slowdown in the sector because of the spread of the coronavirus that forced closures at mines and production facilities around the world.