According to the National Statistics Committee, in 2023, construction volumes increased by more than 20%, in 2024 by 30%, and by the end of 2025, a growth of 21.1% is expected. At the same time, cement production is growing by only 3-5% per year. Currently, there are five factories in the country that can produce 8.4 million tons of cement annually; however, they are only utilizing one-third of their capacity, producing about 3 million tons. Additionally, two new factories are being built in the Chui and Jalal-Abad regions.
“There are times when there is a shortage of cement in the market, which raises questions about the feasibility of such production capacities that cannot meet demand,” noted Bakyt Akmatov.
According to him, the main concern of citizens is the potential increase in cement prices. “This always raises many questions. The antimonopoly service sets the wholesale prices for cement in the country annually — in 2025, it will be 6,300 soms per ton. All factories are required to sell their product at this price. However, end consumers often buy cement through intermediaries at a higher average price of 9,000 soms. The cost of the labeling service will be determined by the antimonopoly service to avoid suspicions of collusion and price inflation, as all profits from state enterprises go to the country's budget,” he added.
According to the draft resolution, mandatory cement labeling will begin on June 1, 2026, and from December 1, the sale of unlabeled products is planned to be prohibited.
A molecular marker will be added to the cement, which will allow its origin to be determined using special devices, while the quality of the product will remain unchanged.
