Tajikistan Jan-July aluminium output falls 16 pct

DUSHANBE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Tajikistan, Central Asia's largest aluminium producer, cut its output of the metal by 15.7 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2009, a source at the state-owned TALCO aluminium company said on Tuesday. Output for the period was 198,343 tonnes, the source said. TALCO has said it was cutting production due to a fall in global aluminium prices. Aluminium exports are a key source of foreign currency for the impoverished former Soviet republic. Tajikistan plans to produce 377,000 tonnes of aluminium this year, down from 399,450 tonnes in 2008. (Reporting by Roman Kozhevnikov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov)