24 December 2019
OPEC member Algeria has become a net cement exporter following the commissioning of two large projects over the past two years, an official was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

The North African Arab country, one of the largest cement producers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, exported at least 1.5 million tonnes of cement in the first nine months of 2019 after it was a net importer in the previous years, said Kareem Qash, Algerian Trade Ministry Secretary.

Quoted by the Algerian Arabic language daily Elkhabar, Qash said the new projects boosted Algeria's cement output to a record high of more than 26 million tonnes in 2019 and that production is expected to rise further.

"Domestic cement consumption is currently estimated at around 20-21 million tonnes per year...this means that Algeria will be able to export large quantities of cement in the near future, especially to other African countries," he said.

The two cement projects include one plant in the Northwestern port of Zahana with an output capacity of nearly 4,500 tonnes a day and another in Bechar, also in the Northwest, with an installed production capacity of 3,200 tonnes a day.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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