AGMK starts to ship products to Afghanistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AGMK) has begun deliveries of products to Afghanistan, the press service of the enterprise reported.

"Recently, a trial supply of gray cement was sent to Afghanistan - products of Sherabad cement plant of AGMK. Without exaggeration, this was a historic event. First, a new country appeared on the geographical map of export deliveries of our plant. Secondly, the company exported cement for the first time,"- export specialist AGMK Rustam Khalilov said.

According to him, this became possible after the commissioning of a new cement plant in Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya region last year with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of cement. The new plant was built in a mountainous area and covers an area of 55 hectares.

On its territory, a building for crushing limestone with a capacity of 800 tonnes per hour, a bunker for the distribution of raw materials, a vertical crusher, a clinker cooling facility and a multi-tier heating cyclone, warehouses for the storage of refractory materials and cement, a large circular kiln, a clinker cooling chamber and other objects were built.

In addition, facilities for cleaning household waste, water, a recreation complex for workers, a cinema, sports grounds, a modern dining room, a hostel, a bathhouse, a laundry, gas and electricity networks, a new railway line, and a highway have been reconstructed.

The activities of the southernmost cement plant in the country will allow Uzbekistan to increase the export of this building material to Afghanistan, where major projects are being carried out to restore the residential and production facilities and transport infrastructure.

"The country’s leadership set the task of the AGMK to sell 500,000 tonnes of gray cement to Afghanistan this year. As part of the contract signed with the trading company Hamid Company LTD, the first 15 cars with 960 tonnes of products were sent to Mazar-i-Sharif station recently Sherabad Cement Plant", - said Khalilov.

He also added that this is only the beginning. In the future, exports to Afghanistan should increase and, as the plant hopes that partners will be interested in other types of products manufactured by AGMK.

Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine is the only copper producer in Uzbekistan. The company produces refined copper, zinc metal, molybdenum, lead concentrate and other products.

AGMK accounts for about 90% of silver production and 20% of gold in the republic. Since August 2018, the state share in the enterprise has been transferred into trust management of a foreign company SFI Management Group.