IDRO Group says Iran's aluminium capacity on rise after commissioning of Jajarm Aluminum Complex

According to the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran, also known as IDRO Group, Iran’s production capacity for primary aluminium is on the rise after the inauguration of a new smelter complex.

Currently, the combined nominal capacity of Iran's four major aluminium producers Iran Aluminum Company (IRALCO) located in Arak (Markazi Province), Almahdi and Hormozal in Bandar Abbas (Hormozgan Province) and the newly-inaugurated Jajarm Aluminum Complex located in Jajarm County (North Khorasan Province), stands at 468,000 tonnes per year.

Jajarm Aluminum Complex became operational in July 2019 and added 40,000 tonnes to the capacity of Iran's annual aluminium ingot production. According to the Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani, the plant was built with an investment of 17 trillion rials (US$136 million), which created 400 direct and 1,600 indirect jobs.

The South Aluminum Corp (Salco) smelter, being built at a cost of $1.2 billion in the city of Lamerd near the Persian Gulf will come online by the end of the current Persian year in March 2020. This is about to add 300,000 tonnes per year of new aluminium capacity in 2020.

“The first phase of South Aluminum Company, once operational, will add 300,000 tonnes, and the second phase will add a further 600,000 tonnes, bringing Iran's total nominal capacity of aluminium production to 1.3 million tonnes per annum,” said Shahriar Taherpour, a former managing director of IDRO Group.

Other than Jajarm, IRALCO accounts for 175,000 tonnes of the total aluminium production followed by Hormozal with 143,000 tonnes, Almahdi with 110,000 tonnes.