Production of building materials has become the basic industry of the construction industry of Turkmenistan

The construction materials industry in recent years has become the basic industry of the construction industry of Turkmenistan. The observer for Turkmenistan, candidate of economic sciences Valentin Trapeznikov, said this on February 3 in an interview with the Voice of the CIS online radio.

- Valentin Fedorovich, describe the current state of the building materials industry in the country.

- In connection with the growing dynamics of the construction of industrial and social facilities in Turkmenistan, one of the most important sectors of the economy is the building materials industry, which plays an important role in implementing import substitution programs and increasing the state’s export potential.

This industry is developing dynamically due to significant investment. So, compared with 2007, in 2012, the amount of annual investment in it grew 4 times, and in 2019 - up to 11 times.

In recent years, new production facilities of the industry have been intensively commissioned and reconstructed, the range of products has been expanded and the quality of manufactured building materials has been improved, which allows them to reduce their imports and increase exports.

- Readers will be interested to know the production of what types of building materials has increased.

- In comparison with 2007, the production of cement, prefabricated reinforced concrete structures, wall materials, non-metallic building materials and slate more than doubled. And for the production of flat glass, an increase of 6.5 times was noted.

In the past year compared to the previous year, the highest growth rates were recorded in the production of flat glass - 17.0%, rebar, corners and profiles - 11.7%, non-metallic building materials - 8.3% and expanded clay - 3.0%. The production of plastic and fiberglass pipes increased 2.1 times.

- Due to what were industry experts able to achieve such indicators?

- The production of building materials in Turkmenistan is developing on an innovative basis in cooperation with local and foreign scientists and specialists, with the help of which new types of building materials are developed, construction technologies and materials are improved based on the use of local mineral resources and chemical products, including rapidly developing polymer industries.

Examples include the use of reinforced concrete instead of traditional metal reinforcement - fiberglass, the use of prestressed reinforced concrete in construction, the production of new types of cement with the addition of basalt powder, the use of local iron ore in cement production and much more. These innovative developments increase the quality of construction, increase the seismic stability of the facilities under construction, reduce the consumption of building materials and provide significant savings in financial resources.

State policy on the comprehensive support of small and medium-sized businesses has helped to stimulate dozens of entrepreneurs to create new industries, modernize existing enterprises and produce various types of building materials. Private enterprises are establishing and increasing the production of aerated concrete products, roofing materials, putty, gypsum, dry mixes, drywall, decorative cladding plates, electrodes, double-glazed windows, plumbing, mosaic panels, stucco moldings made of polystyrene foam. And this list is not exhaustive.

- I believe that Turkmen manufacturers of building materials work not only on the domestic market.

- Right. Products of the building materials industry are in high demand in the foreign market. For example, in 2019, the Lebap enterprise exported about 160 thousand tons of high-quality cement to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. In addition, tens of thousands of cubic meters of aerated concrete blocks from the Baherden Aerated Concrete Products Plant were sent to Uzbekistan to build Tashkent City facilities, residential buildings in Bukhara, Samarkand and other cities.

- What, in your opinion, are the prospects and directions of development of the building materials industry?

- In recent years, many positive trends have been observed in the development of the construction industry of Turkmenistan. Despite this, the Türkmensenagat agency of the Ministry of Industry and Communications of the country and all other manufacturers of building materials are faced with the task of improving the quality and increasing the volume of products by expanding and introducing innovative technologies in the industry.

To solve these problems, I consider it necessary:

1). To accelerate the implementation of digital technologies in the management and production processes of the industry;

2). Build the industry’s potential by building new production facilities based on innovations developed by leading global manufacturers;

3). Using state support tools, including soft loans, to stimulate the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises for the production of building materials in the regions;

4). Wider practice of creating joint ventures (JV) with leading foreign companies;

5). To expand cooperation with scientists of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan in the areas of processing local raw materials, developing production technologies and creating new types of building materials;

On the basis of cooperation with leading foreign universities, to increase the training and professional development of personnel capable of scientifically managing the enterprises of the industry and ensuring their efficiency.