According to local news sources, Iran could become the world’s third largest cement producer if it achieves its goal of boosting cement production to 75 million tpa by March 2014.
The country has a current cement output capacity of 70 million tpa, making it the world’s fourth largest cement producer after China, India and the US. At the 6th International Cement, Concrete and Construction Technology Exhibition in Tehran, the Secretary of the Union of Cement Industry Employers, Abdolreza Sheikhan, said if Iran’s 75 million tpa nominal capacity becomes its actual capacity, the country could overtake the US to become the third largest cement producer in the world. The exhibition was attended by more than 120 Iranian and international companies including Turkey, India, China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Italy.
In November 2013, Sheikhan reported that Iran’s cement output had experienced a 2% growth y/y in the first seven months of the Iranian calendar year, reaching 44.56 million t. Furthermore, the country’s cleaner cement production saw a 4% y/y increase to 43.4 million t.
Reportedly, Iran plans to increase cement output to 85 million tpa by the end of the next Iranian calendar year, beginning 21 March 2014. In the last calendar year, the country exported cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, Georgia, Oman, India, and China.
Edited from various sources by Rosalie Starling