IRAN: World’s fourth cement producer

Iran is the fourth largest producer of cement in the world with an annual production capacity of 70 million tons, a senior Iranian official says.

“Presently, Iran with an output capacity of 70 million tons of cement [a year] is the world’s fourth largest producer of cement after China, India and the United States,” said Secretary of the Union of Cement Industry Employers Abdolreza Sheikhan.

Iran will become the world’s third cement producer if its 75-million-ton nominal capacity becomes its actual capacity, he added.

The Iranian official made the remarks at the Sixth International Cement, Concrete and Construction Technology Exhibition in Tehran.

More than 120 Iranian and foreign companies, including Turkey, India, China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Italy participated in the event, which was held at Tehran's Permanent International Fairgrounds from December 27 to 30.

Creating job opportunities, promoting exports, providing the chance for Iranian companies to get acquainted with the state-of-the-art technologies in the world, offering ways to tackle air pollution in cement factories and creating the opportunity for exchanging views between experts and producers of cement and concrete were among the key objectives of the exhibition.

Vahed Sherafat, a Turkish producer, whose company represents a German brand in the construction field, said, “We have established our company in Iran’s Aras Free Zone. Because of the good quality of raw materials and cost-effectiveness of the products, we have chosen Iran.”

“We produce 120 types of products based on the world’s most sophisticated technology,” he added.

Hamidreza Tajik, a cement producer, said, “For the first time in the world, we have offered the idea of having an international standard for cement. This proposal was presented to the International Standards Organization (ISO) and was welcomed by many countries.”

Iran is projected to increase its cement output to 75 million tons and export 12 million tons by March 2014.

Iran exported cement to 24 countries including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, Georgia, Oman, India, and China in the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2013.)

The country plans to boost its cement output to 85 million tons by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (starts March 21, 2014).