Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.28/ Trend F.Milad/
By reaching the annual output capacity of 115 million tons, Iran will become world's third largest cement producer in the coming years, deputy Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister said on Friday.
Iran's cement output will reach 75 million tons by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2013), Vajiollah Jafari said, the ISNA News Agency reported.
Iran plans to increase its cement output up to 85 million tons by the end of the next Iranian Calendar year (March 19, 2014), he added.
Iran cement production surpassed 49.14 million tons of cement in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20.
The figure shows 6 percent increase in comparison to the same period of time previous year, the IRIB News Agency reported on December 10.
Iran also exported over 9.38 million tons of cement and clinker in the mentioned period, showing 30 percent growth compared to the same period last year.
Some 8.246 million tons of cement and 1.136 million tons of clinker were exported during the mentioned period.
Iraq, Central Asia, UAE and Afghanistan were the main targets for the exported cement and clinker.
Iran's cement production capacity currently stands at 86 million tons, the Iranian President said earlier this month.
Iran currently produces some 76 million tons of cement per year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at the sidelines of inauguration ceremony of some projects in Isfahan.
It was reported on November 6 that Iran's cement output amounted to some 43.28 million tons in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began March 20.
The amount shows 4.74 percent increase in comparison to the same period previous year.
Iran with total production of 66 million tons ranked as the world's fourth largest cement producer in 2011, the managing director of Fars & Khuzestan Cement Company said on October 24.
The world's total cement production in 2011 stood at 3.6 billion tons, the IRIB News Agency quoted Esfandiar Salarvand as saying.
Salarvand went on to note that Iran plans to export 12 million tons of cement in the current calendar year.
Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari also said in August that the country's cement production capacity will reach 110 million tons by 2015.
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