What is the quality of cement on the Georgian market?
Findings of blind testing results

Local producers of Georgian cement market use cheap and inappropriate materials instead of the basic input materials required for quality cement production, reveal 2017 blind testing results published today by the Georgian Cement Association (GCA).

During the third blind testing out of 25 cement samples 14 failed the testing while three were marginal, said the GCA.

Geoexpertise, a subsidiary company of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, anonymously purchased 25 cement bags of different producers on the open market.

One set of 25 test samples were delivered to the Georgian Technical University (GTU) Laboratory for the actual testing.

According to the requirements of the European Standard (EN 197-:2011) cements suitable for construction and repair works must have compressive strength in excess of 32.5 MPa. Based on this criterion, in April 2017, only eight of the 25 different tested cements meets the EU standards”, read the summary.

Meanwhile, in August 2017, only four from 27 different tested cements reached the required standard.

It seems that instead of the basic input materials required for quality cement production, certain local producers used cheap and inappropriate materials. It has become clear that the goal of those producers is to maximise their profits at the expense of the consumer as regards both price and safety”, continued the summery.

Last year approximately 300,000 tonnes of such products were sold to consumers, this is 13 percent of the total cement market.

From 2017, the cement quality control on the Georgian market is coordinated by the GCA. The aim of the GCA is to support Georgian producers in producing a product that responds to the standard set on packaging.

The agenda of the Georgian Cement Association is to have close communication with governmental agencies and nongovernmental sector.