Talco, CNBM to build cement complex in Tajikistan
DUSHANBE. June 7 (Interfax) - State unitary enterprise Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco) and China National Building Material Group Corporation (CNBM) have concluded an agreement to build in Southern Tajikistan Central Asia's biggest cement complex.
The Tajik presidential press service said the document was signed during a state visit by President Emomali Rakhmon to China that wrapped up on Friday. Investment in the project is estimated at $600 million.
The agreement concerns the building in the Shaartuz region of a complex with annual capacity of 3 million tonnes of high-quality 620 cement. The first production line (1 million annual tonnes) is planned for launch in fourteen months. After full launch, the plan is that the enterprise will employ 5,000 people. The enterprise will be producing cement from local materials.
The joint venture CNBM-Talco-Cement will be set up for implementing the project. What stakes in the JV each party will have has not been specified. "This enterprise will be the sole enterprise producing high-quality cement in the region," the statement says.
The only cement producer in the republic, the state company Tajikcement, operates in Dushanbe. In 2011, it increased output 3.9% over 2010 to 298,400 tonnes. But production dropped 36.9% to 61,900 tonnes in January-April this year due to a 15-day lack (in April) in the republic of natural gas exported from neighboring Uzbekistan.