Investment opportunities / By Industry

Construction Materials Industry

The construction materials industry is one of the leading economic sectors of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which plays a crucial role in the economic development and strengthening of the country’s export potential.

The industry supplies building projects will all types of construction materials: cement, lime, plaster, walling, roofing, finishing materials (glass, marble and granite slabs), sanitary ceramics, waterproofing materials or more than 100 kinds of basic construction materials.

Currently, the supply not only meets the demands for building materials at the domestic construction market, but there are also large exports. These are cement, glass, roofing materials, marble and granite slabs, and others.

Priorities for the production of building materials are based on the demands of the economy, solution of social problems in the area housing, community facilities, market demand and strengthening the export potential of the industry.

During the years of independence, Uzbekistan has significantly altered the appearance of cities and private housing, built a number of unique buildings, has introduced a new subway line, bridges, overpasses, and others.

The capital of the republic - the city of Tashkent – and provincial capitals have been transformed into modern cities of high culture, architecture, and communications. The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan has always paid great attention to the development of construction, adopted a long-term national human resources development program (construction of vocational colleges and academic lyceums), school education (new construction and capital repairs of existing schools), and support for private housing.

Currently, large scale new construction of new and renovation of existing industrial facilities, houses, schools, health facilities, and other social amenities has begun. The results largely depend on the availability of quality construction materials at these sites.

The total number of building materials producers amounts to more than 2,011 enterprises of different ownership forms.

The main industrial product is cement, which is also the main exported commodity. This sector displays stable growth of key production areas except for production of soft roofing materials, which faced an almost quadruple decrease.

Key products: cement, roofing slate, asbestos cement pipes, gypsum, lime, soft roofing, dry construction mixes, bituminous mastic, glass articles, ceramic tiles, chipboard, waterproofing materials, nonmetallic materials, marble, granite, and other types of natural stones, walling materials, bricks, electrodes, and etc.

Various types of mineral deposits, which are offered by the state for the development to potential investors, have been researched in relation to establishing new types of construction materials production.

A group of nonmetallic mineral deposits: This is a vast and diverse group of minerals widely used in the Uzbek industry. It includes about 70 types of minerals - mining and mining chemical raw materials and construction materials. There are a number of deposits, raw materials from which are used as sorbents for the purification of various industrial and food products and as abrasives.

Particular significance is attached to nonmetallic mineral resources due to growth of construction and production of building materials, highly technological products used in automotive, electronic, medical and other industries.

In addition, nonmetallic mineral deposits may be used in the production of new types of construction materials, new brands of cement, ceramics and glass as engineering materials and others.

Over 600 nonmetallic mineral resources have been explored in Uzbekistan including 21 mining chemical, 36 mining and others, 30ornamental stone materials, 520 for the production of construction materials (deposits for brick, cement, expanded-clay aggregate raw materials, sawing stone, gypsum, lime, building and ornamental stone and others, which form the basis for the production of different grades of cement, light and heavy filling agents for concrete, heat insulation, binding substances, roofing as well as ceramics, glass, asbestos cement pipes, and others).

Overwhelming majority of mineral resources are construction materials – brick and cement raw materials, sands, gravel, building stone, i.e., mainly for domestic consumption, while foreign investors are interested in the nonmetallic raw materials that are most demanded at the global market, which may ensure a fast recovery of costs.

Besides, deposits of mining and mining-chemical raw materials, building materials, precious and ornamental stones, the country also offers multiple occurrences and prospective areas of highly technological types of nonmetallic raw materials such as:

·           high-silica rock (gangue quartz, quarzite, siliceous sand, porcelain rock);

·           high-magnesia rock (talcum, dolomite, magnesite, bursitis, serpentinite;

·           high-alumina rock (alunite, diaspore, minerals of andalusite group, clay-slate), wollastonite, graphite;

·           clay rock (bentonite, palygorskit, glauconite, hydromica);

·           fluor spar and feldspar, asbestos, mineral salts.

Uzbek ornamental facing stones are popular both domestically and abroad– marble, granite, gabbro, and others. Ornamental stone material is represented by a wide range of ornamental stones: andalusite, turquoise, opal, cacholong, jade, amazonite, rhodonite, azurite, lapis lazuli, dumortierite, sodalite, agate, chalcedony, jasper, agalmatolite, deciduous, serpentine, obsidian, chiastolite, alunite, hematite-bloodstone, onyx marble, petrified wood, jadeite, serpentine, etc.

Moreover, hydromineral raw materials (iodine, bromine, etc.), which are extracted from mineralized groundwater including associated water of oil and gas wells,  are also being consistently researched.

Feldspar should be pointed out as prospective raw material being a resource for ceramic, porcelain, glass, cement, and other industries. They are used as ornamental materials in construction. Crystalline schists (mica) possess high thermal resistance and robust electrical insulation properties and are used in electric and radio engineering. They are also used as acoustic and heat insulation materials.

The investment potential of construction materials in the republic remains quite high specified by a relatively even distribution throughout the country.