The Iraqi Cement Manufacturers Association reviews the cement industry's 2030 vision with the National Investment Commission
The Iraqi Cement Manufacturers Association, represented by its Chairman, Engineer Ammar Rahim Abdullah Al-Saadi, and Board Member Raad Hassan, participated in meetings held at the National Investment Commission headquarters on Wednesday and Thursday, March 26-27, 2025. The meetings were chaired by the Chairman of the National Investment Commission, Dr. Haider Makiya, and attended by the Commission's Coordination Department and the Chairman's advisors. The meetings explained the association's vision for the cement industry in 2030. The vision included the actual production capacities of currently operating plants, plants under construction that will enter service within the next five years, plants granted investment licenses but not yet operational, the plants' need for raw materials and their available reserves in each governorate, and the fuel required to operate these plants, whether black oil or gas. The association's recommendations, based on economic and production standards and indicators, included halting the granting of investment licenses in the cement sector, given that existing plants are sufficient to meet the need for cement. A production surplus in the coming years.
The Chairman of the National Commission expressed his support for the Association's vision on protecting investment in the cement sector, and in implementation of the recommendations of the Arab Union for Cement and Building Materials for all Arab countries to halt investment in the cement sector due to the surplus production in all Arab countries estimated at 100 million tons.
The Chairman of the Commission instructed those concerned to contact the investment authorities in the governorates to clarify the status of licenses granted to establish cement plants, as well as to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals regarding licenses granted by the General Directorate of Industrial Development.
Makieh also directed the relevant departments within the Commission to coordinate with the Association to hold a workshop at the Economic Department affiliated with the Commission on investment in the cement sector and to utilize the database available within the Association when studying any future cement industry projects.
Coordination will continue between the National Investment Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, and the Cement Manufacturers Association of Iraq to decide to halt the granting of investment licenses for new cement factories until 2030. This decision will be reconsidered in light of the country's actual needs.
