Armenia raises cement import duty

The National Assembly of Armenia passed a law to establish import duties of AMD22,000/t (US$45.56/t) on the import of cement for a period of one year, until April 2020. The move comes after protests held by local cement plant employees against low cost imports into Armenia.

“We cannot allow the closure of our cement producing enterprises. They need state support," argued the Economic Development and Investment Minister, Tigran Khachatryan. He said that in 2018, local production increased by 53 per cent, while imports rose by 3.5 times.

Out of 680,000t of cement sold in Armenian in 2018, some 512,000t were locally produced and 168,000t was imported. Khachatryan said a study conducted by the ministry shows that the average cost of one ton of locally produced cement at the end of 2018 was AMD37,000-38,000, while the cost of cement from Iran on the border was AMD8500 plus AMD12,000-13,000 for transportation.

The import duty for clinker remains unchanged but is under review.