Cement firms: Contractors risk lives with cheap Iran
cement
Turkish Daily News
August 24, 1999
Chairman of an Anatolian cement producing company says the sale of
Iranian cement is conducted without control and that this damages the Turkish
economy
Cement factories have claimed cement imported from Iran could cause
deaths in parts of Anatolia because it is unreliable in earthquakes.
The managers of four Anatolian cement firms -- Kars, Mardin, Askale
and Kurtalan -- said the Iranian cement widely used in Anatolia's east
and southeast is highly likely to turn to rubble in quakes.
They said Iranian cement is not up to Turkish and international standards
and that Turkish constructors do not understand directions for its use
because it is only printed on packages in Persian.
They told the Anatolia news agency that the low quality of Iranian cement
could cause wide-scale destruction in a quake.
The chairman of Kars Cement Industry and Trade Corp., now owned by Cimentas
in Izmir, Ilhan Gurel said the inflow of cement from Iran increases in
June, adding there are currently about 100 trucks delivering cement to
Turkey from Iran every day.
"Iranian cement is preferred by contractors because it is cheap.
Its sale is conducted with no control. This damages our economy and, in
the future, it could cause a disaster," Gurel said.
Cement producers in the east applied to the Competition Council to stop
the importation of Iranian cement, but because the legal proceedings are
taking time, the inflow of Iranian cement cannot be stopped for at least
a year.
Meanwhile, the deputy general director of Konya Cement Factory A.S.,
Davut Ulus, said ready cement should be used in construction. Ulus said
this would limit the number of buildings collapsing to 10-15 percent.
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