IRan

Iran: Data from the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade of Iran reports that the country’s cement production fell by 1.4% year-on-year to 42.7Mt in the first nine months of the Iranian calendar year that started on 31 March 2016. Cement production has fluctuated in recent years due to weak domestic demand, according to the Trend News Agency. Other issues the cement industry has experienced have included a recession in the local construction industry, low supplies of natural gas, low international oil prices and declining exports.

Iran: The Ministry of Roads & Urban Development Iran has agreed to purchase 2Mt of cement from local producers. Iran's Bank Maskan, also known as the Housing Bank, will finance the road building plan and the cement producers will receive the money in cash, according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. He added, in comments to the Tasnim news agency, that he hoped the money will ease stagnation in the Iranian cement industry. Sheikhan also commented on plans to export cement to Syria and talks to remove a ban of imports of Iranian cement in Iraq.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association expects local cement sales to grow by 26 – 28Mt by 2020. It made the forecast as part of a six- month review of the industry. Chairman Sayeed Saigol said that local sales grew by 8.6% year-on-year to 19.8Mt in the first half of the country’s financial year to 30 June 2017 from 18.2Mt in the same period in the previous period. Based on current growth trends he added that the industry would need to increase its production capacity. To this end it is increasing capacity to 72.3Mt/yr from the current capacity of 46Mt/yr.

Despite the anticipated growth in cement sales Saigol defended import duties to the countries on the grounds that the government benefits from taxation of the local industry. He has also urged the government to support the industry by placing an anti-dumping duty on Iranian cement. Exports of cement fell by 3.5% year-on-year to 2.91Mt from 3.02Mt with a particular fall in exports to Afghanistan.

Iran: Gebr Pfeiffer has released information about a MVR 4250 R-4 raw mill that will be installed at Biarjaimand Cement Company. The raw mill, with an installed drive power of 3000kW, is designed to grind 280t/hr of cement raw material to a product fineness of ≤ 12 % R 90µm. The contract was awarded in September 2016 and the order was placed through the Chinese general contractor Beijing Kaysun Trading, a subsidiary of CATIC based in Beijing. Gebr Pfeiffer staff will also supervise erection and commissioning. The delivery of the equipment is scheduled to start in the second half of 2017.

Pakistan: Total cement despatches in Pakistand during the first two months of the current fiscal year clocked up at 4.9Mt, a 14% increase from 4.3Mt recorded in same period of 2015-16. However, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), overall export despatches have decreased: Exports in July-August were down almost 1% on a year-on-year basis to 1.022Mt. Overall domestic sales in August rose 21% to 3.02Mt from 2.5Mt in August 2015. Cement sales in the north zone were 2.495Mt in August, up 22.6% from a year ago. In the south zone sales recorded an increase of 13.2% at 0.532Mt from the same month of 2015.

Exports to Afghanistan dropped 12% to 346,928t in July-August on an annual basis, APCMA data shows. Exports by sea suffered even more. As opposed to 537,120t exported during the first two months of the preceding fiscal year, exports by sea in July-August 2016 were 407,120t, showing 24% decline on an annual basis.

However, increased exports to India made up for these shortfalls to some extent. Exports to India during the first two months of the current fiscal year grew 167% year on year to 268,230t.

A spokesman for the APCMA said the industry has been doubling its production capacity every seven to eight years. The buoyancy in the sector on the back of healthy domestic consumption during the last 20 months has encouraged the industry players to go for further capacity expansion. He said growth in the sector during the first two months of the fiscal year was in spite of Eid holidays. Growth of domestic consumption in August was also 'impressive,' as consistent rains failed to hurt construction activities, he added. He said upcoming projects along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will further boost cement consumption.

The industry has yet to realise its export potential due to the lack of support from the government. The loss of the Afghanistan market is a matter of concern for the industry, which has been marginalised there because of subsidised Iranian exports.

Iran: Shahryar Geravandi, the manager of Saman Cement at Kermanshah in western Iran, has warned that Iraq's high import tariffs on cement has put the Iranian cement industry in crisis. Geravandi said that Iranian cement plants now face overcapacity, according to the Tasnim News Agency. He added that finding new markets for the surplus cement would be hampered by high transport costs.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has warned that an increase in Federal Excise Duty on cement may increase the levels of illegal imports of Iranian cement. The increase in the tax was announced in the 2016 – 2017 federal budget. Instead, the association wants the government to reduce taxes on cement to promote local dispatches, according to local media.

According to the latest data, issued by the APCMA, the cement industry dispatched 35.5Mt of cement between July 2015 and May 2016, an increase of 106% year-on-year from the previous period. However, exports to countries other than India, fell during this period.

Iraq: Iraq intends to remove a ban on import of Iranian cement according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, the secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. In comments reported by the Fars News Agency, Sheikhan said that Iranian and Iraqi officials had held several meetings on the issue.

He added that Iraq had banned cement imports due to security problems in the country and the falling oil price. Iraq’s cement demand is currently met by its own domestic production. Previously, Iraq took 60% of Iran’s exports of cement. However, in the last year Iraq increased its import tax on Iranian cement to US$13/t from US$4/t.

Iran: Iran cement exports fell by 20% year-on-year to 18.5Mt in the financial year that ended on 20 March 2016 according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. In comments to the Islamic Republic News Agency Sheikhan blamed the fall in exports on security problems in the region including Iran’s main export market in Iraq. In the previous financial year Iraq represented 60% of Iran’s export market for cement.

Sheikhan noted that Iraq increased its tariffs on imports of cement to US$13/t from US$4/t in the previous year and raised tariffs to US$72/t in the latest financial year. He added that Azerbaijan had increased its cement production capacity that had also reduced its reliance on Iranian cement exports.

Iran/Pakistan: An Iranian cement producer has revealed plans that Pakistan will help Iran export cement to East Asian countries. Morteza Lotfi, head of the Fars & Khuzestan Cement Company, has said that Iran will supply cement to Pakistan and in return Pakistan will export the same amount of cement to its neighbouring countries under Iran’s name, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has reported.

Lotfi said that Pakistan has the infrastructure to export cement to its neighbours but it doesn’t produce enough cement to meet its domestic consumption. Therefore the two countries agreed on a cement swap. He added that Iran’s annual capacity for producing cement is about 80Mt/yr. Pakistan produces about 40Mt/yr. According to the agreement, Iran will also launch a clinker grinding unit in Pakistan.

Twenty-four countries, including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China are among the main buyers of Iran’s cement. Tehran exported 19Mt of cement and clinker in 2014.