Uzbekistan’s custom authorities have raised the customs clearance fee for Tajik cement imports from US$35/t to US$300/t as of early November. A source speculated to Asia-Plus on Wednesday that the hike may have been orchestrated by Uzbek cement manufacturers: “On 16 October, a meeting was held in Samarkand involving representatives of several cement production companies, many of which are owned by Chinese investors. They discussed the development of Uzbekistan’s cement industry, pricing policies and the possibility of forming a cartel.”
Uzbekistan’s primary supplier of cement is Tajikistan, requiring 2.2.Mta. Over the first nine months of this year, Tajikistan has reportedly exported around 532,000t of cement (worth US$21m) – a substantial decrease from 782,000t in the same period last year.
Uzbekistan has 30 cement facilities, with additional plants under construction or being modernised. Once operational, these may lead to a complete ban on cement imports.
In 2020 Uzbekistan’s government temporarily banned cement imports from 1 May to the end of the year, but the restriction was only lifted three weeks later. Cement is one of Tajikistan’s main export items. Since 2018, Tajikistan has ranked fifth in Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover.
