Reuters reported that Tajikistan Aluminium Company the largest producer of the metal in Central Asia, plans to boost output to 332,500 tonnes of primary aluminium in 2012 from this year's expected 275,000 tonnes.

A source close to the company's management said that last year TALCO's output fell by 2.9% YoY to 348,850 tonnes. The official added that "The technological upgrade and modernization of the plant, which seriously reduced output this year, is now coming to an end, and more and more pots are being re-launched, which is seen by steadily rising monthly output.”

In January to November of this year TALCO reduced its output by 20.5% YoY to 253,629 tonnes. In November alone the company produced 22,181 tonnes of primary aluminium, 4.8% more than in the previous month, but 20.9% below the level of November 2010.

The official added that "We hope that in 2013 TALCO will surpass the (annual production) level of 400,000 tonnes.”

Aluminium is the main cash earner for the impoverished nation of 7.7 million bordering China and Afghanistan. Exports of the metal account for around 55 percent of all the country's exports.

TALCO has direct contracts for selling its metal. Its smelter, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Dushanbe, was able to produce 419,060 tonnes of aluminium in 2007, its record year for production since independence from the Soviet Union.

(Sourced from Thomson Reuters)