Saveh White Cement Co, a partly state-owned Iranian enterprise, has placed an order with FLSmidth for two production lines with a total capacity of 7200t grey cement per day. The value of the contract is 70 million euro.

The contract with Saveh White Cement Co. (SWCC) for two 3600tpd production lines is the largest single cement project ever in Iran and the Middle East in terms of production capacity.

The machinery and equipment will be shipped during the next 12 to 18 months to the plant site at Saveh, a city located in northern Iran 160km southwest of the capital, Tehran. The first line is expected to be operational in about 30 months’ time, followed by the second line six months later.

This is the first time that FLSmidth is to supply equipment to SWCC. The company was formed in the early 1980s, partly through government funding. The cement plant is the country’s leading producer of white cement, and once the two new grey lines are finished in 2006, SWCC will be among Iran’s largest providers of cement both for domestic consumption and for export.