DUSHANBE, June 14, 2012, Asia-Plus -- Reuters quoted a source close to Tajik Aluminum Company''s management as saying that production at Tajikistan''s state-owned aluminum smelter, the largest in former Soviet Central Asia, fell by 7.4 percent year-on-year in the first five months of 2012 after an extensive plant revamp.

Tajikistan Aluminum Company, or TALCO, produced 122,338 tons of the metal in January-May 2012 versus 132,058 tons in the same five months last year, the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

The main reason for the decline was lower monthly production rates in early 2012 as the smelter ramped up output following a modernization program completed toward the end of last year.  A 15-day stoppage of Uzbek gas supplies also hit output in April.

The smelter''s production is crucial to the economy of Tajikistan, the poorest of 15 former Soviet republics.  The metal accounted for 45.1 percent of Tajikistan''s export revenues in the first quarter of 2012.

TALCO still plans to meet its 2012 output target of 332,500 tons after the resumption in April of gas supplies from Uzbekistan.  Its neighbor cut supplies for the first 15 days of April before a new contract was signed.

If it meets its full-year target, TALCO would restore production approximately to 2010 levels after a 20 percent decline to 277,584 tons in 2011.