This week it was reported that Tajikistan’s cement production had rocketed up by 41 per cent to 1.8Mt in the first 11 months of 2016, according to the Times of Central Asia. The Central Asian country has seen substantial investment in tnew cement capacity and in 2016 it launched the 1.2Mta Jung-Tsai Mohir cement plant in Yovon province, 30km south of Dushanbe.

The Chinese are particularly active in this market. Huaxin Cement first launched its cement business in the country in 2013 as a joint venture with Tajik Ghayur-Sughd Cement Co and last year it added a second 1Mta cement plant in Bobojon Ghafurov district, Sughd province. There are also plans for a 1.6Mta grinding plant for the company in Danghara Free Economic Zone that is understood to be in commissioning with an initial start-up capacity of 0.5Mta. 

Further Chinese investment is represented by Vahdat Cement, which is a 1.2Mta integrated plant owned by LLC Toj-China in joint venture with local investors. This company also began operations in 2013. Sinoma Tianjin constructed the 10,000tpd plant.

Large infrastructure projects fuel domestic demand
Large volumes of cement are currently being required by the construction of Saihoon, a new city in the desert near Khujand in the northern province of Sughd. Work began in March 2015 when President Emomali Rahmon laid the cornerstone. The city will be constructed for a population of 250,000 residents on a 14,000ha site. There will be 19 residential areas, 50 schools, 40 sports centres and shopping centres and bazars to be constructed.

A further project that will fast-track Tajikistan's development is the construction of the 3600MW Roghun hydroelectric plant. The project includes what is billed as the world’s tallest dam at 335m high that is situated on the Vakksk river. The Roghun project brings together expertise from across the world with Italy-based Salini Impregilo as the main contractor and Siemens AG of Germany providing the gas-insulated high-voltage switchgear. The dam was envisaged as far back as 1980 but the project ran into problems when the Soviet Union broke up. It is now scheduled for power supply to begin in August 2018.

Export potential
While one of the poorer nations in central Asia, its location provides the country with a strategic advantage in terms of cement exports. The country is seen as a gateway to neighbouring Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and it is expected that Chinese investors are eyeing up the Afghan and Uzbek export markets.