Iran Seeks Partners for $10 Billion Expansion in Aluminum
- Aluminum business held back because of lack of bauxite
- Iran aims to boost production to 1.5 million tons by 2025
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Iranian miners are seeking $10 billion to develop a domestic aluminum industry that could serve to export 60 percent of production to meet growing demand for the metal used in cars to jets and beverage cans. The raw material bauxite needed to achieve that goal is proving hard to find.
Iran’s aluminum production of 350,000 metric tons a year is below capacity of 470,000 tons because of a shortage of bauxite and insufficient electricity generation, Mehdi Karbasian, managing director of state-owned Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, said at a conference in Tehran Wednesday. With additional investment, Iran could boost output to 1.5 million tons by 2025, he said.