Uzbekistan: Hengyuan Cement has held a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of its up-coming cement plant in the Kattakurgan district of Samarkand. The plant, a joint-venture between Chinese and Uzbek partners, will have a capacity of 3Mt/yr and cost US$350m to construct. Cement will be sold in the local market and, according to developers, exported to as far afield as the European Union.
At the opening ceremony, the Hokim of Samarkand region Erkinjon Turdimov and Chinese partners noted that cooperation between Uzbekistan and China has been developing steadily in recent years. The project will lead to 600 new direct jobs. The long-awaited cement plant was first announced in 2018, but has repeatedly been delayed, particularly by the Covid-19 pandemic.