Strong growth in Iran cement despite risks
Iranian cement consumption rose 15.2 per cent YoY in February 2024 to 4.93Mt, up from 4.28Mt, according to the Iranian cement association. Producers manufactured 5.13Mt of cement and 5.04Mt of clinker in February, an increase of 11.8 and 18.9 per cent, respectively, when compared with February 2023. A total of 0.93Mt of cement and clinker was exported in February, with cement exports decreasing 11.1per cent YoY to 0.32Mt and clinker exports dropping 37.1 per cent YoY to 0.61Mt.
January-February 2024
In the first two months of 2024, cement consumption in Iran rose 22.6 per cent to 10.2Mt. Cement production totalled 10.91Mt, up 22.2 per cent YoY from 8.93Mt in the same period of 2023. Clinker production was 11.25Mt, up 25.7 per cent YoY from 8.95Mt. Cement exports increased to 0.76Mt in the January and February period, up 20.6 per cent YoY from 0.63Mt a year earlier, while clinker exports were down 28.2 per cent YoY to 1.35Mt from 1.88Mt.
Outlook
Iranian cement consumption and production has started the year strongly and large infrastructure projects will help bolster the cement industry in 2024.
Meanwhile, the weak Iranian rial and strong growth in key export markets, such as India and Kazakhstan, will support cement exports in 2024. The World Bank’s latest economic projections predict Indian GDP to grow 7.5 per cent in 2024, while Kazakhstan will expand 4.3 per cent. According to the Iranian cement association’s general secretary speaking to the Tehran Times earlier this year, Iran exported 10.5Mt of cement to 25 countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria, in the first nine months of the previous Iranian calendar year (21 March-21 November 2023), and production capacity is expected to increase by 8.8Mta in the coming years with the launch of 13 ongoing projects, adding to the current capacity of around 104Mta for cement and 95Mta for clinker.
