Cement Association: Burning Fuel Oil Instead of Gas Has Roughly Doubled Plants' Fuel Costs

Ali Akbar Alvandian, secretary of Iran's cement industry employers' association, said in an interview published by Mehr News Agency on Saturday, 4 Mehr 1405 (September 26, 2026), that cement plants have faced gas restrictions since the start of the Iranian year and have been burning fuel oil (mazut) continuously, even through the hot season. He said the cost of transporting mazut is so high that, on a national average, it adds roughly the price of the fuel itself to costs, so the industry is effectively paying about double for fuel.

Alvandian added that last year gas restrictions began in mid Mehr (early October), but this year they have been in place since the summer, and the outlook for the autumn is still unclear. He said some units, such as Tehran Cement, which is barred from burning mazut, and white cement plants, whose product quality suffers with mazut, have to use gas.

Fuel is a major component of cement's production cost, and the remarks come as plants prepare to stockpile fuel ahead of winter.