An ambitious project was inaugurated at South Aluminum Corporation (SALCO), located in the city of Lamerd, Fars Province, on Thursday.
The project will boost Iran’s aluminum production capacity to 785,000 tons per year, once all its development phases come on stream, according to Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani, Fars News Agency reported.
“The factory has a price tag of over $1.2 billion,” he said at the inaugural ceremony.
"Cutting-edge technology has been incorporated into the project and the development of the project is in line with environmental concerns. Once fully operational, SALCO will create 6,500 direct and indirect jobs.”
The company’s shares are owned by two companies: Ghadir Investment Company owns 51% and the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) owns the rest.
SALCO is set to produce a range of aluminum products, including sheets, profiles, ingots, doors, windows, composites, nuts and bolts.
Rahmani told IRIB News that Iran is currently the world’s 18th biggest aluminum producer and with the launch of this project as well as the Jajarm Aluminum Complex located in Jajarm County (North Khorasan Province), which came on stream a few months ago, the country’s ranking will ascend to 14th place.
The complex became operational in July 2019 with an investment of $150 million, creating 400 direct and 1,600 indirect jobs.
SALCO will start the production of 100,000 tons of aluminum ingots per year. Its production capacity is expected to reach 300,000 tons per year in a subsequent phase. The ultimate production capacity is to reach 1 million tons of aluminum ingots and billets per year.
SALCO will start the production of 100,000 tons of aluminum ingots per year and its annual production capacity will reach 300,000 tons in a subsequent phase
SALCO is looking to become Iran’s biggest aluminum producer and the fourth major producer in the Middle East.
Iranian aluminum producers had an aggregate output of 275,716 tons of aluminum ingots in the past Iranian year that ended on March 19, 2020, which indicates an 8% decrease compared with last year's corresponding period, IMIDRO's latest report shows.
Flagship producer Iran Aluminum Company (IRALCO) accounted for 177,348 tons of the total output, posting a 4% growth year-on-year.
It was followed by Hormozal Aluminum Company with 46,694 tons, down 40% YOY; Almahdi Aluminum Company with 42,059 tons, down 20% YOY; and Iran Alumina Company with 9,615 tons (no data on YOY changes).
Aluminum production during the month to March 19 stood at 29,050 tons to witness a rise of 76% YOY.
Iran Alumina Company produced 233,267 tons of alumina powder during nine months, down 2% YOY.
Alumina powder output during the month to March 19 amounted to 19,255 tons, down 7% compared with last year’s similar period.
The combined nominal capacity of IRALCO located in Arak (Markazi Province), Almahdi located in Bandar Abbas (Hormozgan Province), Hormozal also in Bandar Abbas and Jajarm Aluminum Complex located in Jajarm County (North Khorasan Province), stands at 468,000 tons per year.
IRALCO accounts for 175,000 tons of the total followed by Hormozal with 143,000 tons, Almahdi with 110,000 tons and Jajarm with 40,000 tons.
Shahriar Taherpour, a former managing director of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization, says Iran’s per capita aluminum consumption has been around 4.5 kilograms over the past 10 years.
Currently, per capita aluminum consumption in the world is about 9 kilograms.
The US and Canada are the biggest aluminum consumers in the world at moment with a per capita rate of 23 and 27 kilograms respectively.
The Iranian aluminum industry’s biggest challenge currently revolves around supplying raw materials, such as alumina and petroleum coke. Not having access to raw materials due to sanctions and also having to purchase them at prices much higher than global rates are problems facing producers.
Connecting aluminum production units to railroads and exploring new bauxite mines in the country can help reduce costs in this industry.
