Iran’s annual cement output surpasses 70m tons

TEHRAN,April 22(MNA) – Iran produced over 70 million tons of cement in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, an Iranian cement industry official announced on Saturday. The annual production rose by 5.74 percent year on year, the Mehr News Agency quoted Abdolreza Sheikhan as saying. Over 57 million tons of cement were also consumed in the domestic market, he noted. In December 2012, Iranian Industry, Mines, and Trade Deputy Minister Vajiollah Jafari said by reaching the annual output capacity of 115 million tons, Iran will become world's third largest cement producer in the coming years. Iran's cement output will reach 75 million tons by the end of current Iranian calendar year. Iran plans to increase its cement output up to 85 million tons by the end of the next Iranian Calendar year. Iran plans to export 12 million tons of cement in the current calendar year. Industry, Mines and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said in August 2012 that the country's cement production capacity will reach 110 million tons by 2015.