Output in August was 18,771 tonnes, down 8.9 percent from July and off 33.1 percent from a year earlier, said the company official, who declined to be identified.

Smaller output was due to repair work and modernisation at the plant.

A TALCO source has said the company plans to produce 310,000 tonnes of primary aluminium this year, well below an original target of 377,600 tonnes, due to the ongoing modernisation of equipment.

TALCO produced 348,850 tonnes last year, which was 2.9 percent lower than in 2009.

Aluminium exports account for about 60 percent of Tajikistan's total exports, which is the poorest of the 15 ex-Soviet nations.