BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Antimonopoly Committee of Uzbekistan published a review of the cement market in the country, Trend reports citing the committee.
The agency recalled that this year, cement was in high demand. Since February, the prices started to grow and in March it reached 619 - 625 soum (six cents) for one kilogram. After quarantine was announced, the prices went down to 512-523 soum (five cents) per kilogram.
After the softening of quarantine measures, the price started to gain growth rates again which is also connected with the reduction of imports for the first half of the year. Also, cement prices grew due to a ban on imports, which lasted from May 1 through May 23, 2020.
The pandemic undoubtedly had an impact on cement imports. Imports in the first half of the year amounted to 813,000 tons (average 135,500 tons per month), while in the same period last year was 1.8 million tons (306,300 tons per month).
After issuance of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on the simplification of cement imports, the price decreased from 875 to 784 soum (from eight cents to seven cents).
After that, import increased to 70,000 - 97,000 tons per week, and the exchange price decreased to 712 soum (six cents).
Particularly, on August 24, 2020, the price per kilogram of cement made up 733 soum (seven cents). However, on August 27 price per kilogram of cement made up 684.2 soum (six cents).
Currently, six large and 19 smaller cement enterprises with a total capacity of 11.1 million tons operate in Uzbekistan. The largest of them are JSC Kyzylkumcement (3.1 million tons), JSC Ahangarancement (2.2 million tons), and the Sherabad Cement Plant (1.5 million tons).
The government of Uzbekistan set a task for Ozsanoatqurilishmateriallari JSC to bring the production to 22 trillion soum ($2.1 billion) by the end of the year. It was entrusted to expand production to substitute the import of construction materials.
Uzbekistan has 275 promising deposits of necessary raw materials, and 14 projects worth $52 million are being implemented in the Gazgan settlement of the Nurata district.
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