DUSHANBE, December 15, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- China’s Xinjiang Trade and Industry Corporation, San Bao, intends to build a cement plant with the rated capacity of 1 million tons of cement per year in Tajikistan, according to press service of Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

This and other cooperation issues were discussed at a meeting of the CCI head Sharif Said with visiting top managers of Xinjiang International Trade and Industry Corporation in Dushanbe on December 12.

During the meeting, the representatives of China’s company said that they had arrived in Tajikistan to get acquainted with local conditions and discuss the site for the plant, the press service said.

We will recall that legal foundation of construction of the cement is a tripartite protocol of intention signed by Sharif Said and top managers of San Bao (Kann Hepin) and Xinjiang International resource Company (Hua Jianjun) in Urumqi, China last September.

Under the protocol, the plant will be built due funds provided by the Chinese side.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Industries, Tajikistan’s requirements in cement are increasing by 40 percent with each year.  Tajikistan now needs 1.5 million tons of cement per year, while Tajikistan’s largest cement producer, Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant), currently produces up to 500,000 tons of cement per year.  The rated capacity of the plant is 1 million ton per year but because of obsolete equipment it is now capable to produce not more than 500,000 tons of cement per year.  To meet its requirements in cement, Tajikistan has to import it from other countries.