Press TV - Iran’s production of aluminum would jump by more than 63 percent in the current calendar year ending March 2021 to reach over 430,000 metric tons, says the country’s minister for industries.

Reza Rahmani said on Wednesday that the total output for aluminum in the past calendar year ending March 19 topped 276,000 tons.

He said output would jump in the year ahead with the opening of SALCO, Iran’s massive aluminum smelter in the southern province of Fars.

“The aforementioned project has been completed in the city of Lamerd in Fars Province with an output capacity of 300,000 tons (a year) with an investment of around $1.2 billion,” said Rahmani, adding that by opening SALCO, Iran’s total output capacity for aluminum would reach 785,000 tons a year.

He added that SALCO would be the only aluminum plant in Iran benefitting from all components of aluminum production chain, including smelter, anode making and storage facilities, in one single location.

The minister said the plant would enjoy the services of an exclusive port terminal on the Persian Gulf for the purpose of the exports of its products; a structure he said had cost the government more than $170 million to build.

SALCO is jointly owned by IMIDRO, Iran’s government-run holding for mining and metals, and Ghadir Investment Company, where Iran’s Social Security Organization and pension funds related to the armed forces are the main shareholders.

The plant is expected to directly employ more than 1,500 people, mostly from the local people, while 5,000 more jobs would be created on the company’s wider supply chain.

A first phase of the giant aluminum smelter had been planned to open in November but it was delayed because of a series of logistics issues.