Georgian Cement Association - Results of recent cement testing are alarming

The Georgian Cement Association says that the results of the covert test of cement, conducted in November of 2019, showed that some of the local cement producer companies had deteriorated the quality of their products since the covert test, conducted in July of 2019.

The eighth covert testing conducted by the Georgian Cement Association revealed that only nine products of 6 companies (29%) out of thirty-one types of locally produced bagged cement met European EN197-1 and EN413-1 standards.

According to the association, six of the nine samples are local products, while three are imported from Turkish.

Furthermore, twenty-two out of the total thirty-one samples failed the quality test, seven of them showed a critically low quality compared to the information placed on packaging.

The Georgian Cement Association conducted the eighth covert testing of bagged cement, purchased in seven cities of Georgia in October-November 2019. According to their information, the cement bags were bought in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Marneuli, Gori, Kareli, Batumi and Kutaisi cities. In total, the association purchased 31 types of products, produced by 18 companies, including three Turkish producers.

The Georgian Cement Association said in a statement that twenty-two out of the thirty-one samples failed the quality test and seven of them showed a critically low quality compared to the information placed on the packaging.

“The results of the recent testing are alarming, since they revealed that only 6 products of 4 local producers and 3 products of 2 importers meet the requirements of the European standards, while all other products of the other 12 manufacturers are of lower quality compared to the information placed on packaging and do not meet any standards. We can directly say that there are some samples, which have nothing to do with cement and very often, it’s impossible to conduct physical-mechanical test on them, because they are just an inert material and nothing more, "said Georgian Cement Association.

As for the test, conducted in July of this year, 9 out of total 28 checked samples (32%) met minimum standards, while 19 failed the test, 8 of which showed a critically low quality compared to the information placed on the packaging.

Why the use of poor quality cement is dangerous?

The Georgian Cement Association suggests that quantity of low-quality cement sold annually on the Georgian market could reach 350,000 tonnes, which could create problems for up to 150,000 citizens.

The association explains that the sale of large quantities of low-quality cement on the market may pose a danger for stability of buildings.

“The bulk cement produced by the same manufacturers cannot be inspected yet, because in this case samples should be taken from their factories and they certainly do not agree on it. Consequently, there is a risk that the same low quality cement will be supplied to some concrete plants and there is a risk for the stability of multi-store buildings, ”the Cement Association explained.

According to the recommendations of the Georgian Cement Association, high quality cement can be identified by the following factors:

• High quality products, produced by local manufacturers, contain the logo of the Georgian Cement Association on their packaging. The logo of Georgian Cement Association is associated with the mark of quality, since just those companies, which produce the cement complying with European standard requirements and the technical data placed on the packaging, are authorized to place the mentioned logo on their products.
• The association calls on the customers to refrain from purchasing the product if its label does not contain the manufacturer's name, contact information, and the exact type of cement.

It is noteworthy that since 2017, by the initiative of the Georgian Cement Association, 8 covert tests of bagged cement available to the open cement market of Georgia have been conducted since 2017. Only 32% out of those tested 273 bags of cement met the requirements of EN197-1 and N413-1 standards, the remaining 68% (which is quite alarming) failed to meet the required threshold.

The Georgian Cement Association aims to support local cement manufacturers in producing high quality cement and to create maximum transparency for Georgian consumers in this regard.

According to the association, the results will be officially sent to the relevant agencies for further action, since there is no improvement in quality in the market.

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