We’ve covered some stories this week about new cement plants in Central Asia. Four new plants have been announced in Tajikistan and construction has started on an integrated plant in Kazakhstan. Let’s recap what’s been happening.
The office of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon announced that four new cement plants will be built to provide 6Mt/yr of production capacity by 2029. The plan is intended to increase domestic production, create a surplus and stabilise prices. The press release noted that local production grew to 5Mt in 2025 from 0.3Mt/yr in 2014. It also admitted that there have been ‘challenges’ with industry coordination, capacity utilisation and distribution. Cement prices have risen and localised shortages have been reported in recent months. The government says it is taking action in response to this. Separate media reports from the country, in late May 2026, suggest that cement prices have doubled recently, matching the cost of imports. This has been linked to a maintenance shutdown at the Jung-Tsai Mohir Cement plant in Yovon, high local demand and mounting exports to Afghanistan.
Then, in Kazakhstan, it emerged that construction work had commenced on the QazCem Industries plant at Baikaninsky in Aktobe. The US$177m project has a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. It is a joint-venture between China-based Sinoma Cement Company and Primus Capital. It is intended that three-quarters of the project will be built in 2026. Once completed the plant will target demand in the south of the country, with the option for export markets too. Other recent cement plant projects in the country include a US$222m unit at Alginsky in Aktobe in connection with West China Cement, which started construction in October 2025 and International Cement Group, which opened its fourth unit in the country in late 2024.
Another view on the cement market in Kazakhstan could be detected this week from Steppe Cement’s financial results for 2025. The leading cement producer in the country reported that its revenues rose by 20% year-on-year to US$101m. Its profit after tax more than tripled to US$3.3m. The company noted the contribution that residential construction growth had made to its balance sheet. Yet, it also warned of input cost inflation, negative currency exchange rate effects and competition from imports in the south of the country.
Graph 1: Cement production in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, 2018 - 2025. Sources: Qazstat, Tajstat & Uzstat, figure estimated for 2025 in Tajikistan.
Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has generally been the other big cement producer in Central Asia. As can be seen in Graph 1 above, its annual production was generally around 10Mt from 2018 to 2023 and then it jumped up to 20Mt in 2025 following the opening of a number of new plants. A review of the local sector by Avestra Investment Group reported that the country’s capacity utilisation rate fell from 92% in 2019 to 45% in 2024. It has since improved somewhat to 50% in 2025. New companies entered the sector from 2019, mostly from China, including Huaxin Cement, Namangan Cement, Fergona Yasin, Andijon WCC Cement, Toshkent Konch Cement, and China Energy JV. Overcapacity in Uzbekistan also has implications for neighbouring countries as local producers have turned to exports. Tajikistan, for example, reported a fall in cement production and exports in 2024.
Coincidentally, Uzbekistan presented the results from its first systematic assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from its cement industry at a seminar in April 2026. The event was hosted by the Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The country currently aims to reduce the carbon intensity of its gross domestic product by 50% by 2035, compared to 2010 levels, and is considering becoming carbon neutral by 2060. The cement sector is considering levers such as optimising cement composition, improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of alternative fuels.
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are the most populous countries in Central Asia. Consequently they have the largest cement industries. All three sectors have been growing in recent years as the nations develop, and as China has started financing and building cement plants overseas. This progress can be seen in the reports of new plants from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The aftermath is observable in Uzbekistan. Here, the new plants have been built and the industry is learning to cope with overcapacity. Its experience will be watched by its neighbours.
