Armenia’s National Assembly has passed the first reading of a draft law for the increase of import duty on cement.
The bill, which received 57 votes in favour, one against, and 21 abstentions, aims to preserve the competitiveness of domestic producers. Under the proposals the state duty for 100t of cement would rise from the current 200-fold base rate to 800-fold. The country’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Edgar Zakaryan, presented the bill citing the need to maintain economic and industrial equilibrium.
Cement, he said, is a strategic commodity and ensuring its continuous domestic production is vital for Armenia’s national economy. In 2023, Armenia imported roughly 260,000t of cement, three and a half times that the previous year, making up 22.4 per cent of local production volume. Last year, imports rose by around 65 per cent.
Zakaryan highlighted that the production cost of local cement is heavily influenced by the cost of energy, leading to imported cement being sold at AMD27,500 (US$71.77)/t, compared to AMD35,000-37,000 for locally-produced cement.
“This situation seriously undermines local producers and threatens their survival. If this continues, we risk full market dependency on imports, damaging our industrial policy and causing unpredictable price hikes,’” Mr Zakaryan said.
