Cement factories across the country have resumed producing clinker three weeks after they stopped production, Donya-e-Eghtesad reported.
Cement producers stopped making clinker on January 14 based on an agreement with the oil ministry in order to help it deliver natural gas to other industrial sectors as well as to household consumers in a more efficient manner. The Iran’s Cement Industry Employers Association earlier said the one-month discontinuation of clinker production would spare cement producers extra expenses they bear during the winter.
Considering the full depots of the cement producers and saturation of demand, the discontinuation of clinker production, as the raw material for cement, had been touted as a way to regulate the cement market. Despite the association’s earlier claims, the move has apparently led to losses for cement producers as their shares in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) retreated during the period. Therefore, the association ordered the cement factories to resume production more than a week before the due date.
According to reports, the oil ministry will compensate the cement producers’ losses through future discounts in their mazut and natural gas bills.
