Iran: About 35% of Iran's cement kilns, or 30 – 35 of a total of 97 kilns at 71 cement plants, are not working due to the gas shortage and technical problems, reported Abdolreza Sheikhan, Secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association on 2 January 2016.
Iran's cement sector is suffering a gas shortage, according to Sheikhan. He said that the country's cement output has decreased by 10 – 12% in 21 March 2015 – 21 November 2015. Sheikhan has forecast that Iran's annual cement output will fall by some 12% compared to the preceding fiscal year, which ended on 21 March 2015. During the year, Iran produced over 61Mt of cement.
The National Iranian Gas Company has stopped supplying gas to a number of cement plants due to a wave of cold weather. However, the ongoing problem is not due to output shortage, but because of a delay in inaugurating a projected compressor station, according to Iranian media. It was already planned that the country's gas transmission capacity would increase by 80Mm3/day in 2016 by installing five compressor stations en route to the transmission pipeline, but the stations have not become fully operational yet.
