TEHRAN - Iran's cement production hit 35.639 million tons in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), up 14.4 percent compared to the same period last year, IRNA reported.

Based on the data provided by the Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry, the country’s cement production stood at 25.153 million in the first half of the previous calendar year.

Production of the mentioned commodity was reported to be 6.058 million tons in the sixth Iranian calendar month of Shahrivar (August 22-September 21), 5.3 percent less than the figure for the previous month in which the output stood at 6.397 million tons.

Currently, there are 96 cement production lines active in 74 factories across Iran, most of which are less than 10 years old. This is an indication that new production units have a greater share of the total output in this sector.

Iranian cement production units managed to produce 53 million tons of cement in 2018 which, considering the country’s total production capacity, indicates that 62 percent of the country’s factories were active in the mentioned year.

The country's cement production capacity is currently 85 million tons and the domestic demand is 65 million tons. Iran is now one of the seven largest cement producers in the world.

According to the data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Iran exported over 5.847 million tons of cement worth $127.99 million during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year.

India, Afghanistan, Russia, Iraq, Qatar, Kenya, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, and Oman were among the countries importing Iranian cement during the mentioned five-month period.

Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan were the top importers of cement from Iran in the said time span.

Iran has exported about $7 billion worth of construction materials in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

As recently announced, the production of major items in the construction industry is more than double the country's demand for such commodities.

EF/MA