BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 22
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Uzbekistan reduced imports of construction materials by 20.9 percent in the period from January through July 2020, Trend reports citing the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
In total, Uzbekistan imported construction materials worth $592.2 million during the reporting period.
Wood and its products (47.9 percent), cement (8.2 percent), glass and its products (5.6 percent), as well as asbestos (2.7 percent) account for the bulk of imported products.
Imports of wooden products amounted to $283.9 million (16.7 percent decrease). The most noticeable decrease was observed in cement export, the supplies of which decreased by more than 2.2 times to $48.4 million.
During this period, the volume of construction work carried out in Uzbekistan increased by 5.7 percent, compared to the period from January to July 2019.
Taking into account the growing demand for construction products, Ozsanoatqurilishmateriallari JSC (Uzbek major producer of construction materials) developed a plan for 2021. It is planned to bring the production of cement to 14.5 million tons and significantly increase the production of construction materials.
Currently, six large and 19 smaller cement enterprises with a total capacity of 11.1 million tons operate in Uzbekistan. The largest of them are: JSC Kyzylkumcement (3.1 million tons), JSC Ahangarancement (2.2 million tons) and the Sherabad Cement Plant (1.5 million tons).
The government of Uzbekistan set a task for Ozsanoatqurilishmateriallari JSC to bring the production to 10 trillion soum ($984.9 million) in the first half of the year, and 22 trillion soum ($2.1 billion) by the end of the year. It was entrusted to expand production to substitute import of construction materials.
Uzbekistan has 275 promising deposits of necessary raw materials, and 14 projects worth $52 million are being implemented in Gazgan settlement of Nurata district.
---
Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini