OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2008. In 2011 the OSC "Qizilqumsement", Uzbekistan’s largest cement plant, is to increase its production capacity one third and make it 4 million tons. The cement leader involved the French Satarem S.A. in its modernization, reported the Official website www.investuzbekistan.uz.

Authorities of the JSC "O'zqurilishmateriallari" said that the Satarem won a tender on designing and "turnkey construction" of the fourth technological line for manufacturing 1 million tons of cement by reconstructing and modernizing elements of the current production. France’s Satarem S.A. won the tender, competing with strong companies from China and Russia.

In late April the parties plan to discuss details of the contract: starting cost of works, USD 150 million can be changed. The negotiation process is to end in the first half of this year. By this term, the Uzbek Cement Company intends to provide finance the planned works. Besides the company’s own funds, it is planned to involve resources of banks.

The "Qizilqumsement" was launched more than 30 years ago, in 1977. Today nearly 52 % of cement produced in Uzbekistan falls to its share. Consumers of the company’s product are around five thousand economic entities of the Republic and it exports nearly a third of produced cement.

Chief of the company’s department for investments and introduction of new technologies, Sanjar Vafoev mentions that within the framework of modernization and technical re-equipment the company also plans to invest nearly USD 50 million during five years in the reconstruction of mining and modernization of its equipment and technological lines.

Recently in Uzbekistan a number of local cement plants have expressed considerable expansion in output of their product. Particularly, major shareholders of the OSC "Bekobodsement" and OSC "Quvasoysement" involved China's CFMC Engineering Co. in modernization worth more than USD 90 million. For instance, the “Bekobodsement” intends within two years to launch dry cement production having capacity of 850 thousand tons.

The Russian Eurocement Group invests this year nearly USD 15 million in the modernization of OSC "Ohangaronsement", Uzbekistan’s second biggest cement plant. The investor has developed the company’s investment program on developing its opencast mine and increasing its capacity by purchasing new technologies and modernizing its power complex. The program implementation is to allow the company to increase its annual capacity by 200 thousand tons and reach in five years the rate of 1,9 million tons a year.

Under the modernization program of Uzbek construction material manufacturers for 2007-2011 the country intends to implement projects on modernizing cement production worth over USD 300 million. As a result of investment program implementation within five years, Uzbekistan’s cement output is to grow 1,5 times in comparison with that of 2006 up to 8,5 million tons by manufacturing additional 2 million tons and reaching the planned capacity of 6,5 million tons.