Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

The ceremony of laying the foundation of the Uzbek-Chinese-Arab joint venture "Popcement" was held in the Namangan region, UzA reported.

The construction of the cement plant began on the basis of the former UzRuberoid.

The project cost of the joint venture is $50 million. It is planned to produce 500,000 tons of cement annually. The project will also ensure the creation of about 700 jobs.

Currently, more than 700 enterprises with the participation of Chinese capital operate in Uzbekistan.

As many as 12 cement plants operate in the country with a total annual production capacity of more than 9 million tons.

The achieved level of cement production (about 8.5 million tons in 2016) does not satisfy the market demand.

The increase in the capacity for the production of cement is envisaged through the modernization of existing and construction of new plants and production lines. The new plant in Sherabad is a major part of this expansion. From 2019, the new plant's intention is to run at a capacity of 1.5 million tons of portland cement.

According to forecasts, by 2020 consumption of cement per capita in Uzbekistan will be at least 328 kilograms of cement per year.

The decree “On the production and consumption of cement in 2018” of the Uzbek Government dated December 8, 2017, envisaged that monopoly enterprises will sell cement exclusively at exchange trades starting from January 1, 2018.

In 2018, it is planned to sell 8.424 million tons of cement at Uzbek Commodity Exchange.

Volumes that are not sold in the first auction are re-exhibited within a month and only after that can be exported under direct contracts, the document said.

In order to avoid the rise of prices for this product from next year, the parameters of the State Budget and the Investment Program provide for the necessary funds for the purchase of cement by budget recipients at market prices.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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