The Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan plans to provoke competition in production of cement due to the shortage of it in the country. Minister for Economic Development Farhad Aliyev informed Azer-press that the country needed approximately 2.5Mt tonnes of cement every year. This demand is met thanks to the local production as well as the imports. The prices are so high because but little cement is produced domestically. Now, this cannot suit us. We really need more producers and we need to import more, Farhad Aliyev told Azer-press.
The leading national producer Garadagh Cement put out 1.36Mt of cement last year as against 963,000t the year before last. This is saying that the country is short of 1.1Mt of cement every year.
Garadagh Cement asked us for an expansion sanction and we do not object. The new producers of cement contacted us as well. We do not mind competition at all. Quite on the contrary, we would like other companies to join the market in Baku and in the whole of Azerbaijan and work alongside Garadagh Cement, Farhad Aliyev says. Iranian and Pakistani businessmen are offering to organise more cement production plants in the country.
