Over the first ten months of this year, Tajikistan has exported 1.1 million tons of cement to neighboring countries, which is 30 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies (MoINT).

An official source at a MoINT says Tajikistan over the report period has exported 670,000 tons of cement to Uzbekistan, 423,000 tons to Afghanistan and 80,000 tons to Kyrgyzstan.

Tajik-Chinese joint ventures Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement, Huaxin Gayur Cement and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement reportedly accounted for 38.5%, 32.6% and 24.2% of Tajikistan’s cement exports in the first ten months of this year, respectively.   

Average monthly volumes of cement exports have reportedly risen some 30.1 percent year-on-year to 110,000 tons in the first ten months of this year compared to 84,200 tons in the same period last year.  

In 2016, Tajikistan exported only little more than 282,000 tons of cement.

Tajikistan began exporting cement to neighboring countries in 2015 and it exported only some 500 tons of cement in that year.       

Cement production

Over the same ten-month period, Tajikistan has reportedly produced 3.2 million tons of cement, which was 20 percent more than in the same period last year.  In January-October last year, Tajikistan produced 2.5 million tons of cement.

Tajik-Chinese joint ventures Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement, Huaxin Gayur Cement, and Huaxin Gayur Sughd Cement accounted for 30.9%, 28.1% and 25.9% of the local production in the first ten months of this year.

Dushanbe-based cement plant (Tojik Cement) accounted for only 6.5 percent of the local production over the same ten-month period.        

Tajikistan now has 13 cement plants with a total production capacity of 4.7Mt/yr.  

Tajikistan has increased production of cement significantly in recent years due to launching new Tajik-Chinese joint ventures.  Over the last eight years, production of cement has increased in Tajikistan nearly ten times.   

Meanwhile, such achievements of Tajikistan’s industry evoke concern of ecologists, who consider that excessive increase in cement production may cause irreparable harm to the country’s environment.

According to them, more polluting plants in China are forced to shut down or pay the costs of environmental damage in the wake of new laws and a crackdown on pollution.  Cement is one of the world’s most polluting industries, and therefore, Chinese producers have moved excess capacity offshore.  The Chinese cement plants mainly use coal for their fuel.  The companies reportedly claim that their plants are using advanced environmental and energy saving technology, without specifying exact standards.