Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 22
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's oil ministry has cut gas supply to some cement producing plants, Secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association, Abdolreza Sheikhan said, Iran's Fars news agency reported Nov. 22.
Every year National Iranian Gas Company cut gas supply to cement producing plants in late November, however this year the company started halting gas supply earlier, Sheikhan said.
The Islamic Republic faced severe gas shortages last winter. In addition to cutting the gas supply to power plants, the Iranian government had to decrease gas delivery to petrochemical complexes as well as several industrial sectors including cement producing plants.
Sheikhan said that the oil ministry has agreed to continue gas supply to cement plants in provincial centers and plants nearby cities to prevent air pollution.
The other cement factories will be supplied with mazut, he added.
The Islamic Republic produced 41.64 million metric tons of cement in the first seven months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Oct. 22).
Iran plans to increase its cement export to 120 million metric tons per year by 2025.
The country exported over 20 million metric tons of cement during the last fiscal year (ended on March 21).
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.
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