Tajikistan: A new 1Mt/yr cement plant in the Yovon district, Khatlon province is expected to start operation in late August 2013, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industry (MoEI). The US$100m project has been built by the Tajikistan-China joint venture Huaxin Gayur Cement.

"The construction of the plant has practically been completed and it just remains to complete the commissioning process," said an official source at a MoEI. It added that the plant will create 1000 new jobs. The Yovon cement plant will be powered by coal which will be delivered to the plant from the Fon-Yaghnob and Ziddi coalfields.

Huaxin Gayur Cement was established by Huaxin Zhongya Investment (Wuhan), a subsidiary of Huaxin Cement, and Gayur Limited Liability Company. Huaxin Zhongya Investment (Wuhan) holds 75% of the ownership and Gayur holds the remaining 25%.

According to the data from the MoEI, eight cement plants with a total cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr now operate in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's largest cement plant is OJSC Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant) with rated capacity of 1.1Mt/yr. However, this plant has not been in operation since January 2013 due to a lack of natural gas. Tajikistan's annual requirements in cement have sharply increased in connection with construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant, highways and other national infrastructure projects.