Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's Industries, Mines and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh forecasted that the country's cement export to hit 120 million metric tons per year by 2025.
Nematzadeh said that the Islamic Republic exported over 20 million metric tons of cement during the last fiscal year (ended on March 21), Iran's ISNA news agency reported Nov. 15.
He added that launching cement terminals in the country's south and west borders is a necessity to boost export to foreign markets including neighboring countries.
Iran also has invited Qatar for joint investment in cement producing projects, the minister said.
The Islamic Republic has successfully started to use railroads to export cement to neighboring and Central Asian countries.
The country produced 41.64 million metric tons of cement in the first seven months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Oct. 22).
The official IRNA news agency reported last June 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 mentioned 24 account for 97 percent of Iran's total cement exports.
The main importers of Iranian cement are Iraq (63 percent), Azerbaijan (4 percent), and Turkmenistan (7 percent).