Displaying items by tag: Iran

UAE: Figures from Iran’s Qeshm Free Trade Zone show a deficiency in domestic cement production in the UAE, as 48,000t of cement have been shipped to the country in the six months ending 21 September 2019. Cement from across the Gulf helps serve the consistently growing needs of the country’s construction industry.

Iraq: Iran’s Khuzestan province plans to invest in a US$35m cement plant project in Al-Emareh. Deputy Governor General for Coordinating Economic Affairs Nourollah Hassanzadeh said it was a joint initiative with Iraq, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The project was launched in the mid-2010s and is reported to be in its ‘final’ stages. The Iranian province borders Iraq and it hopes to increase its international investment profile.

Iran: Iran increased its cement production in the five months to 22 August 2019 to 23.1Mt, a 4.8% increase from 22.1Mt in the same period of 2018. In spite of this, the country’s cement exports in these first five months of the Iranian year fell by 17% to 5.48Mt from 6.60Mt. Clinker exports fell by under 2%. Though still the World’s number 10 cement producer, demand for Iran’s cement is hampered by US trade sanctions. This has led the country to seek to improve sales in neighbouring countries, such as Afghanistan.

Armenia/Iran: The Armenian parliament has approved a tariff of US$29/t on imported cement from Iran. A previous attempt to pass the bill was blocked in April 2019, according to the Armenpress News Agency. During the recent vote construction workers demonstrated outside the parliament building warning that prices could price as a result of the new duty.

Iran/Iraq: Hamid Hosseini, the secretary general of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, says that exports of cement from Iran to Iraq and the Kurdistan region of Iraq have been suspended for the last year. Tariffs were added first before a ban, according to Tejarat News. At present exports of clinker are allowed.

Armenia: Tigran Khachatryan, the Minister of Economic Development and Investments, says that the government is considering adding clinker to a list of goods subject to import duties. A tariff of around Euro40/t could be introduced for a year until April 2020, according to the ARMINFO News Agency. This would be similar to proposed duties on imported cement.

The measures are intended to protect local cement production. Khachatryan noted that imports from Iran could be up to a third of the price of locally manufactured cement due to cheaper energy supplies and state subsidies.

Iran/Afghanistan: Exports of cement from Iran to Afghanistan have increased following the resumption of US-led sanctions on Iran. Speaking on Afghanistan’s Tolo News TV, Janagha Navid, the spokesman of Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said that Afghanistan imports 80,000t/yr of cement, while stressing that the country’s domestic cement production capacity could increase to 420,000t/yr.

Navid added that cement imports from Pakistan had decreased, while imports from Iran had risen, due to depreciation of the Iranian Rial against foreign currencies. He further highlighted that Afghan customers prefer Iranian cement over Pakistani cement, citing quality considerations. In 2018, Iran exported US$127m-worth of cement to Afghanistan, broadly similar to imports from Pakistan, which came to US$132m.

Afghanistan/Pakistan: The share of exports of cement from Pakistan to Afghanistan fell to 24% in the first eight months of the current 2019 Pakistan financial year compared to 48% in the 2018 period. The Cement Manufacturers And Export Association has blamed this on Afghanistan opening its market to imports from other countries including Iran, according to the Frontier Star newspaper. It has urged the government to take measures to cut local production costs and force anti-dumping tariffs on Iranian cement imports.

The association said that the cement industry in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been most affected by the decline in exports to Afghanistan. Exports from these regions fell by 16% year-on-year in the first nine months of the current Pakistan financial year to February 2019.

Iran: President Hassan Rouhani has inaugurated the Mond-Dashti Cement plant. He made the inauguration remotely by video link, according to the Tehran Times newspaper. The unit had an investment of around US$90m and a cement production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr. It has created over 170 jobs.

Somalia: Pejman Bahrami, the deputy head of Qeshm Free Zone Organisation for maritime transport and port affairs, says that 14,500t of cement will be exported to Somalia. It will be transported on a Tanzanian ship, the AMINA-H, that is currently being loaded, according to the Fars News Agency. The Iranian cement industry has a production capacity of 80Mt/yr. It sends its exports to countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, Georgia, Oman, India, Somalia and China.