NFC provides EUR 46 million interest-free supplier credit for Jajarm Alumina Refinery Project

Project narrative

In 2016, China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Company (NFC) reportedly issued a two year interest-free term supplier credit (loan) worth EUR 46 million to Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization for the Jajarm Alumina Refinery Project. The proceeds of the loan were used by the borrower to purchase equipment from NFC to support the construction of an aluminum refinery at the edge of the desert in the city of Jarjam within North Khorasan province in northeast Iran. This facility, which has the capacity to produce a capacity of 300,00 tons of aluminum per year, became operational on or around July 15, 2019. In June 2020, a Reuters report found that the aluminum complex in Jajarm was producing aluminum powder for Iran’s ballistic missile program (based on the account of a former official who worked at the plant).