Algerian state to boost presence in cement sector

Algerian state to boost presence in cement sector
30 November 2009


Algeria is to consolidate its state-owned cement plants into a national entity which will challenge Lafarge for its share of the market and later expand abroad, a government minister said.

The holding will invest 180 billion Algerian dinars (US$2.413bn) to nearly double annual cement production in the next three years, the official APS news agency quoted Industry and Investment Promotion Minister Hamid Temmar as saying.

At the moment, Algeria’s 12 state-owned cement plants produce about 11.5Mt of cement a year and control 67 per cent of the domestic market, with Lafarge accounting for the rest, the minister said.

He said the plan was to create "a national leader for the cement industry and other building materials."

"This new industrial giant should, in the initial stage, control from 75 to 80 percent of the domestic market... before extending its activities towards the international market," the agency quoted him as saying.

Oil and gas producer Algeria has in the past two years been moving towards greater economic nationalism, adopting legislation which has set limits on the share of foreign investment in all sectors of the economy.

Lafarge has been Algeria’s biggest private cement producer since its acquisition of Orascom Cement from Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries in 2008.

Published under Cement News