Iran’s cement output at 35.6 mln tons in H1 fiscal year: Report

Iran saw an increase of 14.4 percent in cement production year on year in late September as half-year output reached a total of 35.639 million metric tons, a report shows.

The official IRNA news agency cited figured by Iran’s ministry of industries (MIMT) published on Monday saying, however, that output declined in the month to September 21 by 5.3 percent compared to similar month in 2018 to stand at 6.058 million tons.

The report said that cement production could have increased more in the period from March to September if activity in cement factories were not hampered by measures adopted to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Iran is currently the seventh leading producer of cement in the world with a total capacity of nearly 90 million tons per year. The country added another two million tons to its capacity by opening new plants or new production lines over the past calendar year ending March 2020.

Iran exports $139 mln worth of home appliances in March-August

Iran has continued to export home appliances despite growing restrictions at borders.

A total of 74 cement plants are active in Iran with 96 active production lines, nearly half of them opened over the past 10 years.

Total domestic demand fore cement is around 65 million tons a year, said the report by IRNA, adding that annual exports normally exceed 10 million tons.

Iran’s customs office (IRICA) said in September that the value of cement exported in the five month to late August had amounted to more than $127 million for nearly six million tons of cargoes sent to 28 countries.

A bulk of Iranian cement was shipped to neighboring countries, with Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan being the main customers of the construction material over the period, showed IRICA figures.

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