Afghanistan's Jabal Saraj Cement Factory Phase II Project Breaks Ground, with Daily Output of 5,000 Tons

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Afghan Taliban officials announced at a ceremony on Thursday that the second phase of the Jabal Saraj Cement Plant in Parwan Province has officially commenced, stating that the project will create thousands of jobs as part of plans to expand the country's oldest industrial facility.

At the ceremony held in Parwan Province, north of Kabul, Taliban Deputy Leader Abdul Salam Hanafi stated that the project will be financed and implemented by the Taliban-controlled state-owned enterprise, the National Development Company. Hanafi noted that the new facility can produce 5,000 tons of cement every 24 hours. The Taliban did not disclose the project budget, construction timeline, or expected commissioning date.

Taliban Deputy Chief Economic Affairs Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar described the project as part of broader efforts to transform Afghanistan's economy and reduce its heavy reliance on imports. Citing Afghanistan's geographical location, natural resources, and labor force, Baradar pointed out that the Taliban government is taking measures to shift the national economy from dependence on imports to increasing reliance on domestic production and exports.

The history of the Jabal Saraj Cement Plant dates back nearly seven decades. The plant, which began production in 1958 after an initial investment of 40 million Afghanis, is located in the Jabal Saraj district of Parwan Province, north of Kabul, and was one of Afghanistan's early state-owned industrial projects. However, production has been repeatedly disrupted by conflict, aging machinery, weak infrastructure, and limited investment. Successive Afghan governments have explored plans to restore or expand the plant.

In 2018, the former government's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced plans to put the second phase of the project out for tender. At that time, officials envisioned an investment of approximately $170 million to achieve an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of cement. The plan was not completed before the former government fell in August 2021. The Taliban later reached a separate investment agreement for the plant. In 2023, the contract for the first phase of the Jabal Saraj Cement Project was signed with a Qatari company, with a reported investment of $220 million.

The Taliban did not clarify how the newly announced second phase, implemented by the National Development Company, relates operationally or financially to the previous agreement with the Qatari company, nor did they provide details on whether the daily output of 5,000 tons refers solely to the second phase or the expected capacity of the entire plant after expansion. If operating at full capacity year-round, a daily output of 5,000 tons would equate to an annual production of approximately 1.8 million tons of cement.