Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 11 August this year, First Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aziz Voitov held a meeting with manufacturers of chipboard and MDF products via videoconference. With the participation of the heads of relevant departments and industry associations, the current state and prospects for the development of the direction were discussed.

During the dialogue, the results of the studies of the current situation in the production of building materials were presented. The following facts are given: the average annual demand for chipboard products in our country is 600,000 cubic meters, which is covered by both local producers and importers, mainly companies from Iran, Turkmenistan and Russia. From these countries, 360,000 cubic meters of products worth US$81 million were imported in 2020, and 607,000 cubic meters worth US$136.5 million in 2021.

As is known, within the framework of measures to localize production, in recent years, investment projects have been implemented in the country for the production of products from chipboard. However, products manufactured by local manufacturers still cannot compete with foreign counterparts. It’s all about the high cost of raw materials "Formalin 37%" and "Urea-A", which are the main components in the production of chipboard. In this regard, responsible persons were instructed to study the situation, work out a set of measures to reduce costs and harmonize prices with world prices.

The analysis of the activities of 13 facilities for the production of products from chipboard and MDF in various regions of the country was carried out. So, 7 of them work at full capacity, and 6 enterprises, as it turned out, are facing problems, and during the discussion on 4, ways were found to solve the issues that concern entrepreneurs.

During the dialogue, appeals from manufacturers were heard. The solution of each voiced problem, each proposal for the development of chipboard and MDF production in the country is taken under special control.