Afghanistan: The Afghan Ministry of Mines has announced that the management of three cement factories, including the Herat Cement Factory, in Afghanistan will be put out to tender by the end of March 2013. The operation of the Herat Cement Factory was previously contracted to an Iranian company but the ministry terminated the contract.

"The Iranian company could not address the articles in the contract and its commitments in due time. Following review and discussions, the Ministry of Mines terminated the contract with this company," said Ministry of Mines spokesman Ahmad Tamim Asi.

The Herat cement plant has a production capacity of 3000t/day. However, according to the ministry the company failed to meet this in 27 months because it did not have the essential technical and financial facilities to excavate the raw materials needed to produce the cement.

The ministry also said that in the next Persian year of 1392 (March 2013 to March 2014), the cement factories of Jabul Saraj in Parwan province and Ghori in Baghlan province will also be put up for bidding in order for the factories to produce more and meet domestic cement demand. Afghanistan currently imports much of its cement from its southern neighbour Pakistan, which has a cement overcapacity.