Things to Consider When Exporting Cement in Iran

The lifting of Western sanctions on Iran trades may cut the share of Middle-eastern cement in the international market, giving way to Iranian cement exports. Economic and trade analysts project that once Iran starts cement exports through its official channels, other international cement makers may face challenges in the Middle-eastern market, especially now that the country has agreed to limit its nuclear activity in place of lifting its 12-year old international economic sanctions with the six world powers. Even before the lifting of the sanction, Iran is already one of the largest cement manufacturers (the fourth in the world), with an average annual production of at least 66 million tons. This number is only projected to rise in the next years as demand for Iranian cement grows.

This growth is one of the many things importers and exporters should watch out for in terms of cement export in Iran. Analysts also say that it will not be long until Iranian cement penetrates central Asian countries. Pakistan, which is one of the largest producers and exporters of cement in the world exports some 3 million tons of cement to Afghanistan—this is nearly half of the country's total cement exports (7.1 million tons per year). The country ships as much as 0.5 million tons of cement to Central Asian countries and their numbers are already dropping slowly due to cheap Iranian cement. This price competitiveness makes Iran an attractive partner in cement trade and the country is already starting to spook other global cement suppliers with their export potential. Iran is only expected to divert sales to even more profitable zones in the years to come.

As of August 2015, reports state that Iran has already exported about 5.16 million tons of cement in the first four months of the current calendar year, which started March 21st. Cement production in the same period has already totaled 20.88 million tons, a huge percentage of which went to some two dozen countries, ranging from neighboring Iraq to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Georgia, India, the UAE, China, and Oman, among others.

Iran has a promising cement export industry, especially with western sanctions already lifted. With a yearly production average of some 66 million tons of cement (66.4 million in the previous Iranian calendar year and 69.6 million in the preceding year), the industry can only be expected to expand even more in the following economic years.

About the author:

Javaneh Motaghi is the E-commerce representative at White Rose Group established in 1992 to offer businesses and organizations, whether SME or large corporate enterprise, a unique cost-effective Import and Export solution covering the width and breadth of Iran, through having branches in four different locations of Iran; Tehran, Chabahar, Bandar Abbas and Sari.

Javanese Motaghi is the business development manager of a name="_GoBack"White Rose Business Group