Friday, April 19 2019 11:26

ArmInfo. The Armenian government is ready to consider the issue of extending the customs duty on imported clinker for cement production. The Minister of  Economic Development and Investments of the Republic of Armenia  Tigran Khachatryan stated this from the rostrum of the National  Assembly of the Republic of Armenia in the first reading introducing  amendments to the laws "On State Duty" and "On Alerting Activities".

As the Minister noted, following the results of discussions in  Parliament, it is possible that by the second reading clinker will  also be on the list of goods subject to state duty. As for cement, it  is proposed for a period of one year - until April 2020, to establish  a state fee in the amount of 22 thousand drams for each ton of  imported cement. This, according to Tigran Khachatryan, on the one  hand, is connected with possible price changes for these goods in  neighboring markets, and on the other hand, with the possibilities of  modernizing domestic enterprises and reducing the cost of production.  Having established a new duty, the minister continued, equal  conditions will be created on the market for producers and importers  of cheaper cement from neighboring countries, first of all, from  Iran. "We cannot allow the closure of our enterprises. They need the  support of the state," the minister explained. At the same time, he  noted that imports are growing much faster than local production. So,  in 2018, local production grew by 53%, and imports - 3.5-fold, that  is, imports are growing much faster. Of the 680 thousand tons in the  Armenian market, 512 thousand were Armenian cement, 168 thousand -  imported. Tigran Khachatryan also said that according to the  Ministry's research, the average cost of cement from local  enterprises is 41-42 thousand drams per ton, or about $ 85- $ 90. At  the same time, cement in Iran is more than four times cheaper - $ 15-  $ 20. Redeployment to Armenia is estimated at $ 15 per ton. As a  result, on the Iranian border, in Meghri, Iranian cement costs only $  30, or about 15 thousand drams. Iranian cement plants are helped by  two factors. First, the country has very cheap gas, which can be up  to half the cost of cement. Secondly, the Iranian government  subsidizes local producers. According to various estimates, in 2017  the state spent $ 168 million on this, the minister said. So that  Armenian factories could withstand such competition, it is proposed  to protect them with a duty. Thus, as the Minister noted, Armenian  enterprises will be able to withstand competition.

It should be noted that according to the data of the Statistical  Committee of the Republic of Armenia, in September 2018 cement  production in Armenia decreased by 23.34% and amounted to 44 thousand  tons. In total, 401 thousand tons of cement were produced in  January-September 2018 against 251 thousand tons in January-September  2017.

To recall that in Armenia there are two cement plants functioning -  Ararat and Hrazdan and gadz plant, also producing cement.