According to “Tehran Times”, upon the completion of the construction of several new cement plants across the country, national cement output will rise by 4Mt. Three plants are expected to come into operation this year in Fars, Isfahan (Kashan) and Hormozgan (Qeshm). Iran’s cement production capacity will then reach 37Mta. Meanwhile, further new plant completions and upgrade projects will boost the total output up to 70Mta by the end of the Fourth Development Plan (2005-10). Cement industry officials hope that Iran would soon join the WTO so that they could offer their products to all international markets.