Algeria’s Minister of Industry, Sifi Ghrieb, has instructed to accelerate the creation of a joint venture responsible for project managing the relaunch of the Djelfa cement plant as he met with Chinese National Engineering and Construction Co Ltd and the CEO of GICA Group. The plant is expected to have a cement capacity of 1.8Mta when operational.
He also requested the preparation of a detailed report identifying the parties involved and the necessary measures to relaunch the project as soon as possible. In addition, he emphasised the need to conduct the necessary technical studies, while examining the possibility of moving toward the production of green cement, to strengthen the competitiveness of Algerian cement and its access to global markets.
Algerian cement exports have seen considerable growth in the past few years, increasing from US$60m in 2019 to US$746m in 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Trade and Export Promotion. In addition, the country exports US$438.84m of clinker, placing it just behind Vietnam, the world’s largest clinker exporter.
