Power Outages Cause Cement Shortage

Reports of cement shortage have been circulating for more than a week in Iranian media outlets. Provincial markets have rationed the supply of this major building material, because of which prices have shot up. 
According to a report by the Persian-language daily Shargh, power outages have contributed to a slowdown in factory activity and a decline in cement output. 
The shortage of cement has brought civil development projects, including freeway construction projects and the government-sponsored affordable housing project — the so-called National Housing Initiative, to an abrupt halt and made workers redundant.