One more cement plant has been launched into operation by Mohir Cement L.L.C.
An official opening ceremony of the plant that took place in Khatlon’s Jaloliddini-Balkhi district yesterday was attended by President Emomali Rahmon.
The cement plant with annual capacity of 600,000 tons has been constructed in an area of 6.7 hectares. The plant will produce M400 and M500 cements.
Cement produced by this enterprise will be supplied to neighboring Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
According to Global Cement News, Tajikistan last year produced 4.2 million tons of cement. In 2020, Tajikistan’s cement experts reportedly were 1.3 million tons; Uzbekistan imported 764,000 tons, Afghanistan imported 505,000 tons and Kyrgyzstan imported 42,000 tons.
The Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan (MoINT) has predicted a 46% increase in cement exports to 1.9Mt/yr by 2023.
According to MoINT, Tajikistan produced 4.2 million of cement in 2019, which was 400,000 tons more than in 2018. In 2018, Tajikistan produced 3.8 million tons of cement. In 2017, Tajikistan exported little more than one million tons of cement. In 2016, Tajikistan’s cement exports amounted to little more than 282,000 tons of cement.
Tajikistan began exporting cement to neighboring countries in 2015 and it exported only some 500 tons of cement in that year.
Last year, Tajik-Chinese joint ventures Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement, Huaxin Gayur Cement, and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement accounted for some 90 percent of the local production respectively.
Tajikistan has increased production of cement significantly in recent years due to launching new Tajik-Chinese joint ventures. Over the last eight years, production of cement has increased in Tajikistan nearly ten times.
However, 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.
