Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.4/ Trend R.Zamanov
Iran's cement output in the first five months of the calendar current year started March 21, stood at 31.475 million tons, Abdolreza Sheykhan, an official from Iran's Cement Producers Association said on Wednesday.
"The figure shows a three per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous year," the IRNA News Agency quoted Sheykhan as saying.
"Some 30.874 million tons of clinker was also produced in the same period, which is three per cent more than the previous year," he said.
Sheykhan went on to note that Iran's cement production in the fifth calendar month (July 22 - August 21) stood at 5.82 million tons.
"Around 24.351 million tons of the country's total cement output in the mentioned five month period was distributed in domestic markets," he concluded.
The IRNA News Agency reported on June 23 that Iran currently exports cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China.
Seven countries out of the 24 accounted for 97 per cent of Iran's total cement exports.
Iraq with 63 per cent, Azerbaijan with four per cent and Turkmenistan with seven per cent were the main importers of Iranian cement.
Iran's cement and clinker exports stood at over 13.648 million tons in the previous calendar year which ended March 20.
The country exported over 11.85 million tons of cement and 1.79 million tons of clinker in the same period.
Iran produced 75 million tons of cement in the previous year. The country's cement production capacity stands at 80 million tons.
Iran with a total production of 65 million tons ranked as the world's third
largest cement producer in 2012.
Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said in August 2012 that the country's cement production capacity will reach 110 million tons by 2015.
The country plans to export over 18.5 million tons of cement in the current Iranian calendar year, Fatemian said.