After an eight-year hiatus, a letter of credit (LC) has been issued by a foreign bank for the South Aluminum Company (SALCO) which is expected to produce 300,000 metric tons of aluminum per year, IRNA reported on Saturday.
The LC was opened by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).
The aluminum company, situated in the southern province of Fars, can bring about fundamental economic and social changes considering the fact that it is located in an underdeveloped region called Lamerd, said Mehdi Karbasian, the IMIDRO head. The SALCO is owned by two major shareholders including Ghadir Investment Company (comprised of different government and private sector shareholders) and the IMIDRO.
Officials from the ministry of industry, mine, and trade have recently announced that the government plans to allocate around $11.4 billion for the development of the domestic aluminum industry as part of plans to nearly quadruple the production by 2025.
Iran is the 20th largest producer of aluminum in the world, according to IMIDRO.
Aluminum ingot production topped one million metric tons in the second year of the 5th five-Year Economic Development Plan (2011-2015), showing an increase of 37% compared to the same period in the 4th Development Plan (2005-2009). The country’s aluminum ingot production was 318,000, 337,000 and 350,000 metric tons through 2011 to 2013, respectively.
