Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 22 / Trend, A. Akhundov /
Azerbaijan will reach full self-sufficiency in cement in 2015, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Niyazi Safarov said, speaking at the II Eurasian Cement Forum held in Baku.
"Modernization of production by the Holcim (Garadagh Cement Plant), commissioning of Accord and Norm companies' power plants at full capacity will allow Azerbaijan to increase the level of self-sufficiency in cement from 44 per cent in 2012 to 100 per cent in 2015," he said.
According to him, in late 2012 the production of building materials, in which 10 per cent of the labour force was concentrated, ranked third in terms of output among manufacturing industries in the non-oil sector.
"Over the past 10 years, the production of building materials increased by 2.5 times against the threefold increase in total industrial production in the country. Cement production increased by 2.3 times, ready-mixed concrete - 11 times, asphalt - four times, building brick - more than four times. The number of enterprises producing construction materials in the country grew by 11.7 per cent. The specific weight of the private sector in this area has grown to 94 per cent," Safarov said.
According to the director of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), Rufat Mammadov, in 2012 over 15 billion manats were invested in the main capital in Azerbaijan, seven billion manats out of which were directly invested in the construction sphere.
"This reflects the high demand for building materials in the country, which ultimately affects the growth of production and improvement of the quality of products," AZPROMO's head said.
The official exchange rate on Oct. 22 is 0.7844 AZN/USD.