Displaying items by tag: Iran

Iraq/Iran: Following a similar move by Turkmenistan, Iraq will stop importing Iranian cements from 1 July 2013, according to Sadeq Sava'edi, the deputy head of Khuzestan's Cement Exporters Union in Iran. Iran currently exports 20,000-30,000t/day of cement to Iraq.

Sava'edi said that the move aims to boost Iraq's domestic cement production, according to the ISNA News Agency quoted. He further said that political and security issues were also influential in the decision.

The news from Iraq, which is Iran's largest destination for cement exports, came as Mohammad Fatemian, an official with the Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Ministry said that Iran plans to export 18.5Mt of cement in the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on 20 March 2014. Iran's cement and clinker exports stood at 16.5Mt for the year to 20 March 2013, exporting 11.85Mt of cement and 1.79Mt of clinker.

Iran produced over 70Mt of cement in the past Iranian calendar year, according to cement industry officials. Capacity is expected to reach 110Mt/yr by 2015.

Iran exported cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China in the past Iranian year.

Chinese and Iranian companies have released information on two new projects in Iraq. Chinese cement equipment provider Sinoma has signed a contract with the Faruk Investment Group to build a cement clinker production line and the Islamic Republic News Agency has reported Iran's intention to build a 2Mt/yr plant.

Sinoma's project seems targeted at the domestic market. It is based at Sulaymaniyah, at one of Faruk Group's two plants that it runs with Lafarge near the northern Kurdish city. Lafarge also runs a third plant in Kerbala that announced the arrangement of a US$70m loan for renovations in January 2013. Lafarge holds a cement production capacity of 6.5Mt/yr, 20% of Iraq's total installed capacity of 32.5Mt/yr. Although, following years of neglect installed capacity and actual cement produced can vary significantly. Faruk Group's decision to choose Sinoma marks a move away from the German firm ThyssenKruppPolysius whom they have used previously. The new line will be Sinoma's seventh in Iraq through its Nanjing subsidiary.

Meanwhile, the Iranian project carries more international motives because the clinker for the plant will come exclusively from Iran. The build is based in the southern Muthanna province and is being overseen by the Iranian Azar-Abadegan Khoy cement plant. As reported in late January 2013, clinker stocks rose in Iran due to a decline in cement demand in the country. Iraq is one of the countries Iran has been able to export cement to during the 2012 – 2013 Persian year. In this context expanding into Iraq makes a lot of sense to combat potential Iranian overcapacity.

In addition all the products made at this plant will carry Iranian branding. Given that this plant is in southern Iraq relatively near to the Saudi border this will complicate any plans to sell stock across the border. As we report this week in Global Cement Weekly, Saudi cement producers have been asked to build reserves of cement to manage the shortage better.

Both projects reveal some of the issues facing Iraq's cement industry, specifically Iraq's redevelopment and the pressures it faces lying between massive demand for cement in Saudi Arabia and overcapacity in Iran. After years of low capacity utilisation rates, Iraq is predicted to hit a production capacity of 22Mt/yr by the end of 2014 with demand expected to reach 35Mt/yr.

For more information on the Iraqi cement industry read Global Cement Magazine's article.

Iraq: Iran plants to build a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Iraq, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The project will cost around US$245m with an opening date set for 2015. Cement produced at the plant will be exported using Iranian brand names.

Iran: Iran exported over 13.65Mt of cement and clinker in the Iranian calendar year which ended on 20 March 2013. The country exported over 11.85Mt of cement and 1.79Mt of clinker, according to the IRNA News Agency.

1.04Mt of cement and 179,000t of clinker were exported in the last month of this period, from 19 February 2013 to 20 March 2013. In the 2012 - 2013 year Iran exported cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China.

Abdolreza Sheykhan, an official with Iran's Cement Producers Association, said in February 2013 that the country plans to increase its cement output up to 85Mt by the end of the 2013 - 2014 Iranian calendar year. Sheykhan also expressed the hope that Iran's cement exports would reach 18 - 20Mt in the current calendar year.

The Iranian authorities may have taken glee in recent months in reporting that their country is on course to become the third biggest cement producer in the world. It's the position normally taken by the US in recent years (after China and India). For a country reeling from US-led sanctions it must provide some comfort. Yet what is the cost of this industrial 'victory'?

In December 2012 Iran's production for the first eight months of the Iranian calendar year beat the previous period by 6% to 49Mt. Current projections see the country hitting 75Mt by the end of the 2012-2013 year and then 85Mt by the close of the 2013-2014 year. Claims that Iran is now becoming the world's third biggest producer fit with estimated cement production figures for 2011 from the US Geological Survey (USGS) putting Iran behind China and India. The US produced 68Mt in 2011. A rough estimate for Portland cement shipped in the US in 2012 from USGS data is 79Mt.

Two stories this week build up a complex picture of the cement industry in Iran. Iranian news agencies have been reporting frequently how well the domestic industry has done in recent months. The latest concerns how Iran's Bank of Industry & Mine has allocated around Euro400m to complete 15 cement projects since 2010. However, also this week, we can report that Iran is facing a seasonal decline of cement demand leading to large stores of clinker in some plants. One can't quite imagine the state run news agencies reporting that they have larger stores of clinker than the US.

Despite the increasingly complicated international trade sanctions in force against Iran, exports are booming. In the current Iranian calendar year they have jumped by 30% to 9Mt, going principally to Iraq, Central Asia, United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan, where it has displaced a significant proportion of Pakistani exports. As our columnist Yves De Moor commented in the November 2012 issue of Global Cement Magazine, Iranian cement is cheap due to overcapacity but hard to import due to the sanctions.

In the absence of recent consumption figures for Iran, comparing the US and Iran on a graph of cement consumption per capita against GDP per capita helps. The US remains at the upper end of the distribution curve at 250kg/capita and US$48,000/capita. Iran is flying off above the other end of the curve at 1000kg/capita and US$13,000/capita. This suggests either overcapacity or a production boom.

Further overcapacity can only push the price of exported cement down further making neighbouring markets more willing to brave the sanctions. This may support Iran's economy as President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad has stated that non-oil exports are one way his country can overcome the sanctions. Additionally, overcapacity offers some political capital on the world stage. The cost for the Iranian cement industry if and when the sanctions end may be devastating though.

Iran: In January 2013 the seasonal decline of cement demand in Iran led to large stocks of clinker in some plants. For example: ShahreCord Cement currently has around 0.45Mt of clinker, Momtazan Cement has a clinker stock of 0.37Mt, NeizarGhom Cement has 0.2Mt of clinker, Hormozgan Cement has 0.39Mt, Naein Cement has 0.36Mt and Lamerd Cement has 0.19Mt of clinker.

Iran: Iran's Bank of Industry & Mine has allocated around Euro400m to complete 15 cement projects since 2010. The bank has financed 38% of Iran's cement projects, according to the IRNA News Agency.

The Bank of Industry and Mine is an Iranian government owned specialised bank located in Tehran, Iran. It aims to increase economic growth through the development of industry and mining. It is estimated that the bank has created some 4500 direct job opportunities.

In December 2012 Deputy Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister, Vajiollah Jafari, said that by reaching a cement production capacity of 115Mt/yr Iran will become world's third largest cement producer. Iran's cement output will reach 75Mt by the end of current Iranian calendar year on 19 March 2013. Iran plans to increase its cement output up to 85Mt by the end of the next Iranian Calendar year on 19 March 2014.

Iranian cement production surpassed 49Mt in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on 20 March 2012, an increase of 6% compared to the same period in 2011. Iran exported over 9.38Mt of cement and clinker in the same period, an increase of 30%. This comprised 8.25Mt of cement and 1.14Mt of clinker. Iraq, Central Asia, United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan were the main targets for the exported cement and clinker. Iran's cement production capacity is currently 86Mt/yr.

Iran: Iranian cement production surpassed 49.14Mt in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year which began on 20 March 2012. The figure is 6% higher than in the same period of 2011, according to the IRIB News Agency. Iran also exported over 9.38Mt of cement and clinker over the same period, a 30% increase compared to the same period of 2011.

Some 8.25Mt of cement and 1.14Mt of clinker were exported during the same period. Iraq, central Asian countries, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan were its main customers.

Iran's cement production capacity currently stands at 86Mt/yr, according to the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He said that the country currently produces some 76Mt/yr.

"Six year ago Iran was dependent on importing cement and nobody would believe that one day the country could become an exporter in the field. However, as we see today, Iran has become one of the world's greatest cement producers and exporters," said Ahmadinejad.

In August 2012 Iran's Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said that the country's cement production capacity would reach 110Mt/yr by 2015.

Pakistan: Iranian cement is being sold informally in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan at below the price of locally-produced cement. A cement producer quoted by the Pakistani newspaper Dawn said that Iranian cement was selling up to 30% below the price of locally-produced cement.

The producer added that cement smuggled from Iran started arriving in Pakistan in early November 2012. The local industry pays US$15.5/t of cement on federal excise duty and sales tax. No duties are paid on the illegally-imported cement from Iran.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) chairman Aizaz Mansoor Sheikh said that his members are performing quality check on Iranian cement. The APCMA also intends to raise the issue with the Pakistan government.

Keeping in view the production capacity of local cement manufacturers, he said the APCMA would take up the matter with the government besides suggesting imposition of import duty to safeguard the local industry.

Iraq and Afghanistan are two principal markets for cement export from Pakistan, constituting 50% of the country's total exports of 9Mt/yr. Annual exports to South Africa and India are 800,000t/yr and 600,000t/yr respectively. Due to US sanctions on Iran and devaluation of Iranian currency, surplus Iranian capacity has posed direct threat to Pakistani cement in these two markets.

At the inauguration of a cement plant in the Esfahan's Na'in Township on 4 December 2012 Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad placed his country's cement production capacity at 86Mt/yr. Iran produced 66Mt in 2011 and after international economic sanctions its local capacity utilisation is estimated to be 50%. Iran plans to export 12Mt of cement in the current calendar year.

Belarus: Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ordered the Homel Regional Executive Committee to cancel an investment agreement under which Iran's Azarab Industries Company was to build a cement plant in the Vetka district.

Under the agreement, signed in May 2010, the Iranian company was to invest at least US$200m dollars in the project and complete the plant within three years. The Belarusian authorities hoped that the plant would be put into operation within 24 months. The investor was also to be granted the right to develop two chalk deposits near Vetka for a period of 50 years and export up to 70% of the output of the 1Mt/yr plant.

Uladzimir Dvornik, head of the Homel Regional Executive Committee, said in March 2011 that although the first stage of the project was to be completed on 7 February 2011, Azarab Industries Company had not submitted an implementation report. Instead, in January 2011, the regional government received a draft lease agreement for land plots from the company, which contained provisions contravening Belarusian regulations. In March 2011 the Homel Regional Executive Committee sent a letter to the Iranian company to assure it of a favourable decision on its suggestions with regard to a fixed lease rate for 50 years.

"There has yet been neither reply nor action from the Iranian company, which does not contribute to the implementation of the investment project," said Dvornik. The regional government is now looking for new investors for the plant.