Displaying items by tag: Iraq

Iraq: LafargeHolcim's subsidiary in Iraq has signed an agreement with the General Company for Land Transport to transport 0.5Mt/yr of cement in 2016. If successful the deal could be extended for five years, according to local press. The contract is the largest in the General Company for Land Transport's history.

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.

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: Iran produced roughly 60Mt of cement in the last Iranian calendar year, which started on 21 March 2014. Of the total, 18Mt was exported, of which 80% went to Iraq, according to Shahriar Geravandi, a member of Iran's Cement Industries Association Board of Directors. He added that Iran is seeking new export markets. According to Geravandi, there are 68 cement plants in Iran.

Iraq/Pakistan: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved Attock Cement Pakistan Limited's (ACPL) request to establish a cement production unit in Iraq.

The ECC meeting, chaired by finance minister Ishaq Dar, approved the proposal to allow Attock Cement Pakistan Limited (ACPL) to remit US$24m for the establishment of a grinding plant in Basra, starting from March 2015 onwards. The proposed investment venture is expected to bring foreign exchange through dividends repatriation and growth in clinker exports. As ACPL intends to hire 50% of its labour force from outside Iraq, the venture is expected to create employment opportunities for Pakistanis.

Iran: As of 1 September 2014, each Iranian cement company can export 15,000t/yr cement into Iraq from the Shalamcheh, Chazzabeh and Mehran border terminals, according to Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi Shirazi, the head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce. He noted that the new regulations have been adopted by Iraq's Trade Ministry.

Iran exports 8 – 10Mt/yr of cement to Iraq, supplying almost half of Iraq's total cement consumption. Iraq consumes 19Mt/yr of cement. Iran exported over 8Mt of cement to Iraq between 21 March 2014 and 21 August 2014.

Iran currently exports cement to 24 countries, including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, Georgia, Oman, India and China. Iran has successfully started to use railroads to export cement to neighbouring and Central Asian countries. The main importers of Iranian cement are Iraq (63%), Azerbaijan (4%) and Turkmenistan (7%).

Iran: Iran stopped exporting cement to Tajikistan in June 2014 and its cement exports to Iraq are 'ambiguous', according to Ebrahim Gholamzadeh, managing director of Iran's Lamerd Cement Company. Gholamzadeh, who had his comments reported by Iranian media, added that no official has followed up the issue and that there is no organized management in exports of cement to Iraq.

Iran exported around 18Mt/yr of cement in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on 20 March 2014. In the past Iranian year, Iran exported cement to 24 countries, including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India and China.

Iraq: Lafarge Iraq has launched a new version of Karasta, its multipurpose cement. In order to meet customer expectations and needs the formula of Karasta was revised to iprove its workability, decrease cracking and improve setting time and adhesion properties.

Karasta's new formula meets the Iraq specification 3868 and the international standards EN 197-1:2011 CEM II/A-L 42.5 R, which is similar to Lafarge products in other countries. Karasta is produced at Lafarge's Bazian and Tasluja plants located near Slemani, Kurdistan Region. It has launched in Erbil and is being sold initially in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iraq: BASF has entered into a joint venture with Lafarge to set up a new plant for the production and marketing of construction chemicals in the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan. BASF said that the new production site would mainly produce concrete admixtures and cement additives and that the products would be offered to the local market.

For BASF, the joint venture offers the opportunity to further tap into Iraq's growth market with a partner that is already well-established in the region. "This initiative clearly represents BASF's interest and commitment to the Middle East," said Dick Purchase, the head of BASF Construction Chemicals division in the Middle East, West Asia, CIS and Africa. "With this joint venture we are fulfilling our Master Builders Solutions promise of connectedness by being closer to our clients, providing our innovative and sustainable solutions and creating new job opportunities in the region," he added. Under the Master Builders Solutions brand, BASF bundles its advanced chemical solutions for new construction, maintenance, repair and renovation of structures.