President inaugurates cement production plant in central Iran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated a major cement production project in the country\'s central province of Qom on Monday. The plant has an annual one-million-ton cement production capacity and has been built on $130 million of funding, mainly provided by Iran\'s Bank Melli and the government\'s Foreign Currency Reserve Fund. The cement production plan creates job opportunity for over 3200 people directly and indirectly. In August Ahmadinejad announced that Iran has joined the world cement exporters club after building numerous cement factories across the country. \"Today our country has become a main exporter of cement,\" Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony held to inaugurate the second phase of a cement factory in Orumieh, Northwestern Iran, in mid August. \"By launching the second phase of Orumieh cement factory, Iran\'s cement production capacity increased by one million tons,\" he said. Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) announced in August that the country has produced 23.411mln tons of cement in the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21 to July 22), showing a 19% rise compared with the same period last year. The report added that Iranian companies produced 6.372 million tons of cement in Tir (4th month in solar calendar, June 22 - July 22).