The finding came in a probe of shipments to Russia by Ireland-based Aughinish Alumina, which is owned by Russian metals giant Rusal.

The plant is widely described as Europe's largest alumina refinery, with an annual output capacity of around two million tonnes of the material, which is used in the production of aluminium.

"The Department (of Enterprise) is aware that a discrepancy in volume was presented in the export figures by Aughinish Alumina," the Irish trade ministry said in a statement to AFP.

"The company has been contacted... and is now seeking to rectify this matter with the respective state bodies."

Aughinish Alumina, which employs around 500 people in southwest Ireland, has come under scrutiny following an investigation by The Irish Times in cooperation with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

The report, published in March, traced the alumina through Russian supply chains linked to manufacturers serving the country's military industry.

On Friday, the Irish Times -- citing a confidential report by Swedish tax authorities -- also said Rusal is controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who has been under Western sanctions since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to official data from Ireland's CSO statistics body, more than 80 percent of Irish alumina exports were shipped to Russia in the first quarter of 2026.

Earlier this week, Irish trade minister Peter Burke told public broadcaster RTE the statistic was "not accurate".

The true figure was closer to 45 percent, said Burke, with a similar proportion exported to EU and other international markets.

While alumina is not subject to European Union sanctions, several EU lawmakers have called for restricting or banning exports of the mineral compound to Russia since the investigations were published.

Aughinish has said it complies with all EU sanctions and trade rules.

On Friday according to The Irish Times the firm said it has corrected the figures it provided to the CSO, and said the true figure is 51 per cent.

Aughinish has not replied to a request by AFP for clarification.

During a visit to Montenegro on Friday, Ireland's taoiseach (prime minister) Micheal Martin said that "we don't want to in any shape or form have product that ends up as weapons or as explosives that impact on Ukraine".

But Martin has also said sanctions on Aughinish could "harm" European industrial supply chains because the refinery supplies a substantial share of EU alumina demand.

"The whole principle of sanctions is we don't damage ourselves more than Russia, or that they don't become self-defeating, and it would appear to me now, Aughinish falls into that category," he said in Dublin last week.

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UNITED COMPANY RUSAL