Displaying items by tag: Iran

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.

Venezuela: Managing Director of the Organization for Development and Renovation of Mines and Mining Industry, Majid Tooklani, has said that Iran is constructing a 1Mt/yr cement plant in Servasul, Venezuela.

"The first phase of the project is underway and the second phase will begin within four months," Tooklani said. He added that the project is a joint investment venture by Iran and Venezuela with 30 Iranian companies providing the host country with technical and engineering services.

Iran: Iran produced 24.44Mt of cement during the first four months of the current Iranian year, which began on 20 March 2012.

According to a report released by the public relations office of the Industries, Mines and Trade Ministry, about 6.43Mt of cement were produced in the country during the period between 20 June 2012 and 21 July 2012. The country produced 5.64Mt of clinker over the same period.

The latest estimates from the Ministry of Industries and Mines show that Iran will need 70Mt/yr of cement by 2021.

Iran: The Khazar Cement Plant, one of the largest in Iran was forced to stop production for 10 days due to a dispute with truck drivers. The drivers had refused to transport cement at the rate that they had been paid by the Gilan Province Government. As the plant cannot store the cement it has produced, it had to be shut down temporarily. The drivers have now returned to work after accepting a 15% pay-rise.

The Khazar plant exports cement to Russia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Iraq and Turkmenistan.

Iran: Iran exported 3.34Mt of cement and clinker in the first three months of the current Persian calendar year that began on 20 March 2012. 2.89Mt of cement and 449,400t of clinker were exported during this period.

Iran's cement production capacity will be increased by 6.8Mt to reach 82Mt by the end of the current Persian calendar year. "The country's cement production capacity stood at 76.4Mt in the past calendar year which ended on 19 March 2012," said Mohammad Fatemian, an official with the Industry, Mine and Trade Ministry. Over 10.4Mt of cement was exported in the 2011-2012 year, he said, adding that the figure is projected to rise to 15Mt in 2012-2013.

Iran produced over 66.4Mt of cement in 2011-2012, showing an 8% rise compared to 2010-2011. Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari has announced that the country's current cement production capacity stands at 74Mt. Ghazanfari added that the figure will reach 110Mt by 2015.

Iran: The Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), has reported that around 700 labourers who work for the Sepahan Cement Company have gone on strike. It is reported that they downed tools on 6 July 2012 and have been protesting at the site of the Sepahan Cement plant.

The contract workers had written letters to officials of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare as well as some MPs and informed them about poor working conditions and pay. They said that 'the correspondence did not bear any result.' It appears that the strike is the result of this apparent lack of response. The dispute continues.

Iran: Exports of cement and clinker from Iran have increased by 17.4% to 10.12Mt in the 2011 Iranian year finishing on 19 March 2012. 8.66Mt of this total was composed of cement exports and 1.46Mt was clinker. National cement production increased by 8% in 2011 reaching 66.46Mt, and clinker production increased by 12% reaching 67.64Mt.

In December 2011, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated a major cement production project in the country's central province of Qom. The plant has a capacity of 1Mt/yr with an investment of US$130m, mainly provided by Iran's Bank Melli and the government's Foreign Currency Reserve Fund.

Iran: Cement exports from Iran increased to over 9.3Mt in the first 11 months of its current calendar year, which ended on 19 February 2012, marking a 17% rise compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports of clinker stood at 1.5Mt in the same period of time.

Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari announced that, with the implementation of new projects, the country's cement capacity could reach 110Mt/yr by the end of 2015.

Paraguay: Paraguayan officials have asked for Iranian assistance in building a cement plant. The issue was raised during a meeting between Paraguayan Parliament Speaker Victor Bogado and Iran's envoy to the country's capital Asuncion, Hojjatollah Soltani.

At the meeting Bogado noted that although a private sector Paraguayan company owns the Calicia mines, which are sufficient for producing cement for two centuries, his country required Iran's expertise to build a cement production plant. He reminded fellow attendees that at present Paraguay owns several small and medium-size cement production plants, but that it still imports cement from abroad.

Iran has in recent years expanded friendly ties with Latin America. Since taking office in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expanded Iran's cooperation with many Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba. Ahmadinejad voiced Tehran's readiness to expand all-out ties and cooperation with Asuncion to his Paraguayan counterpart Fernando Lugo Mendez in March 2011.