Construction to start on Karbala cement plant, Iraq
The joint venture partners behind the US$200m rehabilitation of the Karbala cement plant in Iraq have agreed the security contract for the facility. Construction work will start at the beginning of August.
UK investment firm MerchantBridge and Lafarge have reached an agreement with an as-yet-unnamed company to build a camp that will house 600 workers, as well as provide security for the whole site.
“Even though the contract has yet to be signed, the first day of the contract delivery is next week,” a source told MEED on 26 July. “The rehabilitation has to start just after Ramadan and workers will be arriving then. This is why they have to start next week.”
“Several cement plant rehabilitations have been awarded but nothing has happened with many. It is very important that this consortium can show that the project can be done and completed on time and on budget,” the source adds.
The tender for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the plant rehabilitation are still in negotiation with the award set to be made before Ramadan.
The plant is located about 90km east of Karbala, 230km from the Saudi Arabian border. Published under Cement News
