DUSHANBE, January 12, Asia-Plus – A spike in natural-gas prices has held to a 31 percent increase in the price of products of Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant).
Rajabgul Haqnazarova, deputy director of Tojikcement, that they now sell type M400 cement at the rate of 420 somonis per ton. “Last year, when we received gas supplies at the rate of $80 per 1,000 cubic meters, the price of ton of type M400 cement was 300-320 somonis,” Haqnazarova.
“Although the natural gas rate for TajikAzot and Tojikcement has been set at $129 per 1,000 cubic meters against $136 for other categories of consumers, we consider this price unacceptable and intend to continue negotiations with Tajik gas concern to convince it to cut down the rate” Haqnazarova said, adding that they offer to set the natural-gas rate at $110 per 1,000 cubic meters.
She also added that although the price of cement imported from Uzbekistan is lower — $100 per ton, the quality of the Uzbek cement is not always good.
The Tojikcement official stressed that if their suggestion is not satisfied “the enterprise cannot work at a lose for a long time.” “The plant’s administration has sent a letter to Tojikgaz requesting for reviewing the set tariffs and we hope that the government will meet us half-way.”
According to Haqnazarova, the plant produced 281,493 tons of cement last year, while the last year’s target had been determined at 400,000 tons. She noted that many factors, including frequent gas supplies disruptions have contributed to decrease in the cement production.
Established in 1942, the Dushanbe cement plant has the rate capacity of 1.40 million tons of cement per year. However, since the plant’s equipment and technologies have become obsolete Tojikcement currently uses only 20-25 percent of its capacity.
