Tajikistan last year produced the record amount of cement and the country now not only fully meets its requirements in this building materials but also began exporting it to the neighboring countries.
“In 2016, Tajikistan produced about 2 million tons of cement, which was nearly 500,000 tons more compared to 2015” the Minister of Industry and New Technologies told reporters in Dushanbe on January 25.
According to him, it has become possible due to introducing new cement plants into operation in Vahdat, Bobojonghafourov and Yovon districts.
“Last year, Tajikistan exported about 300,000 tons of cement,” the minister noted.
In 2016, Tajikistan reportedly exported cement to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Besides, small volumes of Tajik cement were also exported to the Russian Federation.
Over the first nine months of last year, Tajikistan sent 35,000 tons of cement to Uzbekistan. Previously Tajikistan exported cement only to Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Over the report period, Tajikistan sent 96,000 tons of cement to Afghanistan and 30,000 tons of cement to Kyrgyzstan. Besides, Tajikistan exported 65 tons of cement to Russia over the same nine-month period.
Cement production in Tajikistan has reportedly increased by 37% year-on-year to 1.51million tons in the first nine months of 2016.
In August 2016, the Government of Tajikistan and the Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement company started operation at their joint-run 1.2Mt/yr cement plant in Yovon district of Khatlon province. It the first cement plant in Central Asia to produce ‘400’, ‘500’ and ‘600’ branded cement. The plant cost US$121 million to build with 35% of the cost procured from local investors and 65% from foreign investment.
Besides, a "Huaxin Gayur Cement" plant, with a capacity of 1 million tons per year, was introduced into operation in Yovon in 2013. This plant was built in one year by domestic entrepreneurs (25%) with the participation of Chinese private capital (75%).
By improving the country’s cement sector, Tajikistan expects to become a net cement exporter. Earlier, Tajikistan imported cement in large quantities from Pakistan, Iran and China.
