Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Since 2019, Uzbekistan increased the import of cement almost by 1.5 times, Trend reports with reference to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
In January-April of the current year, the country imported a knitting building material worth $52.6 million with a 47 percent increase over the corresponding period of 2018.
Cement accounts for 13 percent of the import structure of building materials in the country, read the message.
The growth in imports of construction materials is due to large-scale construction and reconstruction work in the country.
In October 2019, Uzbekistan will abolish the customs privilege for cement importers. By presidential decree of October 30, 2018, customs privileges to importers of four types of building materials (cement, including cement clinker, asbestos, building glass, timber and lumber) were extended until January 1, 2020.
In parallel with the growth of imports of knitting building materials, Uzbekistan’s own production of cement is increasing. State Statistics Committee reports that 2.774 million tons of cement were produced in the four months of 2019 (2.415 million tons for the same period of 2018) with an increase of 14.9 percent.
The main producers of cement in Uzbekistan are JSC "Kyzylkumcement", "Almalyk MMC", "Ahangarancement", "Bekabadcement" and "Kuvasaycement". Two more manufacturers will be added to that list.
Since last autumn, construction of a new cement plant in the Kattakurgan district of the Samarkand region with a capacity of 2.4 million products per year and a project cost of $420 million began with the participation of investors from China, Gansu Hengya Cement Co LTD.
At the first stage (in 2018-2020), the plant will produce up to 1.2 million tons of cement per year. The second phase of the project will be implemented in 2020-2023.
The plant will produce cement brands M-400, M-500 (white and gray) and M-600.
Another Chinese company, Huaxin Cement, will build a new cement plant in Zafarabad district of Jizzakh region with a total value of $150 million and a capacity of 1.2 million tons of products per year. The project is implemented by a foreign enterprise in the form of a limited liability company Huaxin Cement Jizzakh.
It is planned that the new facility will be commissioned in December 2019.
---
Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri