Mr Shavkat Bobozoda industry minister of Tajikistan said: "Lower aluminium output is caused by objective reasons which are partly linked to falling world prices for the metal."



The sharp drop in output in the H1 means that TALCO's production this year may turn out to be lower than its own pessimistic forecast made at the beginning of 2014.



TALCO said that in February it expected aluminium production to shrink by 30.7% to 150,000 tonnes this year. Hit hard by low aluminium prices, the company was forced to reduce output by 20.6% to 216,369 tonnes in 2013. 



Aluminium sales tumbled by 49.6% YoY in the H1 of 2014 to USD 109.2 million.

Aluminium exports have declined for 35 months in a row.

 Hit by aluminium output collapse, Tajikistan's industrial output growth slowed to 2.9% YoY in the H1 of 2014 from a 6.6% rise in the same period of last year.

Source: http://metal.steelguru.com/global/2542/low_metal_prices_halve_tajikistan_h1_aluminium_output