Tajikistan has increased cement exports. But after that, increasing cement production, the country is running the risk of facing serious environmental problems.
Tajikistan has reportedly tripled cement exports. Over the first ten months of this year, Tajikistan has exported some 842,000 tons of cement.
Meanwhile, during the whole year of 2016, the country exported little more than 282,000 of cement, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies (MoINT).
The top export destinations of Tajikistan’s cement are Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In January-October this year, Tajikistan has exported more than 570,000 tons of cement to Afghanistan, some 176,000 tons to Uzbekistan and 95,000 tons to Kyrgyzstan.
Three Tajik-Chinese joint ventures — Huaxin Gayur Cement, Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement – account for more than 90 percent of Tajikistan’s cement exports.
Tajikistan began exporting its excess to neighboring countries in 2015. In 2015, Tajikistan exported only some 500 tons of cement.
In 2016, Tajikistan exported cement to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small volumes of cement were also exported to Russia.
Over the first ten months of this year, Tajikistan has produced 2.5 million tons of cement, an increase of 0.8 million tons compared to 2015.
The country has 13 cement plants with a total production capacity of 4.7 million tons per year. Tajik-Chinese joint ventures Huaxin Gayur Cement, Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement provide the bulk of Tajikistan’s cement production. Thus, in the first quarter of this year, they accounted for 38%, 28% and 16.6% of the local production respectively.
Meanwhile, such achievements of Tajikistan’s industry evoke concern of ecologists, who consider that excessive increase in cement production may cause irreparable harm to the country’s environment.
According to them, more polluting plants in China are forced to shut down or pay the costs of environmental damage in the wake of new laws and a crackdown on pollution. Cement is one of the world’s most polluting industries, and therefore, Chinese producers have moved excess capacity offshore. The Chinese cement plants mainly use coal for their fuel. The companies reportedly claim that their plants are using advanced environmental and energy saving technology, without specifying exact standards.
