Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 24
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Wood and wood products, cement, asbestos and glass are four types of building materials, imports of which to Uzbekistan in 2018 increased several times, Trend reports with reference to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
Official statistics recorded the most solid growth in the delivery of cement. In 2018, the number of knitting building materials was imported 156 times more compared to 2015, with the total value rising from $0.2 million to $31.3 million. In four years, the import of wood and wood products increased fourfold, from $35.3 million in 2015 to $146.7 million in 2018. In the reporting period, asbestos and glass were imported to the country twice as much as in 2015; asbestos imports increased from $3.3 million to $7.3 million and glass and glassware - from $ 8.3 million to $15.2 million.
The state agency noted that in January-March 2019, the volume of imports of construction materials amounted to $291.3 million and increased by 11.4 percent compared to the same period of 2018. The share of building materials in the total volume of the imports reached 5.5 percent.
In the structure of imports of building materials, the main share is occupied by wood and wood products (50.4 percent) followed by cement (10.7 percent), glass and glass products (5.2 percent), and asbestos (2.5 percent).
The growth in imports of construction materials is conditioned by the large-scale construction and reconstruction works in the country, the report said. It is also noted that the government is implementing a number of reforms aimed at local production of building materials and products as well as at providing the domestic market with high-quality and at the same time low-cost construction materials.
By the decree of the President of Uzbekistan issued in October 2018, the customs exemptions for the importers of four types of building materials were extended until January 1, 2020. This list of the goods includes cement, including cement clinker, asbestos, building glass, timber and lumber.
Since November 1, 2018, according to a new procedure introduced in the country, highly liquid types of products, raw materials and supplies imported can be sold without restrictions on the domestic market, including stock exchange trading, at the discretion of their owners.
Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri
