Tuesday, June 23, 2015

ALGERIA: Moving Towards Self-Sufficiency in Cement, Steel Products, Says Minister of Industry and Mines

Algeria is moving towards "self-sufficiency in cement and steel products thanks to the new facilities to be operational in the short term," Minister of Industry and Mines, Abdeslam Bouchouareb said Sunday in Biskra.

Speaking during a meeting with local economic operators, at the headquarters of Biskra prefecture where he was on a working visit, the minister said that Algeria, which imports about 3 million tons of cement per year, "will manage to cover its needs and even over produce by 2016."

It will be the first time since independence that the country will cease to import cement, he noted.

The entry into operation of two new cement plants in the province of Biskra, of a total production capacity of 4 million tons, will, besides the national network of operating cement plants, meet the demand of the domestic cement market, stressed Bouchouareb.

In the commune of Branis, the Minister had laid the first stone of a private cement plant, "La biskrie des ciments", which will be operational in December 2015 with an annual capacity of one million ton.

No comments: