Bekabadcement, the Uzbekistan subsidiary of United Cement Group (Kazakhstan), is planning to launch a new 1Mta integrated production line (0.85Mta clinker) at its facility in Bekabad, located approximately 150km south of Tashkent.
 
The project is valued at US$62m and is expected to be implemented by CFMC Engineering Co. (China), the company that built the 1Mta grinding plant at Bekabadcement last year for a reported cost of US$33.2m. The new line will have a capacity to produce 850,000t clinker per year, and construction is scheduled for completion by August of this year. It will create 100 new jobs.
 
The implementation of the project will allow Bekabadcement to increase production up to 1.9 million tons of cement by 2012 and is part of the state’s plans for the doubling of domestic cement capacities since 2000.
 
Over the last ten years Uzbekistan cement production capacity has risen from 3.2Mta in 2000 up to 8Mta in 2010 thanks to a programme of modernisation and new capacity projects by the largest cement producers,including Ahangarancement, JSC Bekabadcement , OAO Kizilkumcement and OAO Kuvasaycement.
 
This year the production of cement in Uzbekistan could reach 7.5Mt, and is set to rise substantially as the Uzbek government considers construction of another four cement plants with a total capacity of 5.5Mt at an estimated investment of US$650m.
 
In 2009, the domestic demand for cement in Uzbekistan exceeded 5.7Mt, while by 2012 these figures are expected to increase to 8-8.5Mt. Moreover, by 2015, thanks to the implementation of numerous construction projects throughout the country, the annual demand for cement in Uzbekistan could reach as high as 12Mt according to local estimates. Published under Cement News