Cement production during the fifth Iranian month (July 23-Aug. 22) stood at 5.02 million tons, down 5.7% compared to the month before, Fars News Agency reported, citing data from the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.

According to Secretary of Iran's Cement Association Abdolreza Sheikhan, more than 28 tons of clinker, the raw material of cement production, was produced over the five-month period under review to register a 7.5% rise year-on-year.

Around 5.48 tons of cement and clinker were exported during the five-month period, indicating a 10% decrease YOY, according to Financial Tribune.

“Rise in transportation as well as insurance fees increased export expenses, which had a negative impact on our export volume," Sheikhan said.

He noted that 26% of Iranian cement exports during the period under review went to Afghanistan, 15% to Uzbekistan, 6% to Pakistan, 5% to Kazakhstan and 5% to Russia.

The main export destinations for Iranian clinker were Iraq, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, India, the UAE, Kenya, China and Oman.

According to Jafar Sarqeini, deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, Iran aims to increase cement production capacity to 100 million tons by 2021 and to further increase it to 120 million tons by the end of the 20-year Vision Plan (2025).

Iran held on to its ranking as the world’s 10th biggest cement producer in 2018, although production decreased by 1.85% compared with 2017 to stand at 53 million tons, a report published by the United States Geological Survey announced.

Based on the USGS report, published in February, the world’s top cement producers over last year were China (2.37 billion tons), India (290m tons), the US (88.5m tons), Turkey (84m tons), Vietnam (80m tons), Indonesia (67m tons), South Korea (56m tons), Japan (55.5m tons), Russia and Egypt (each with 55m tons) and Iran (53m tons). Other countries produced an aggregate of around 756 million tons of cement in 2018.

Total global cement production in 2018 hit 4.1 billion tons, showing a 1.23% growth compared to the year before. 

“Our production capacity stands at 87.5 million tons per year,” IRNA quoted Sheikhan as saying. 

According to the official, Iran is the world’s sixth biggest exporter of cement chain products. 

The USGS report said Iran’s capacity for clinker production last year remained at 80 million tons, the same as in 2017. As such, Iran had the sixth largest clinker production capacity in the world, sharing the spot with Russia.

China, India, the US, Vietnam and Turkey were the top five countries, having the highest clinker production capacity in a descending order over 2018.