São Paulo – Algeria is set to open in April a steel complex in the Jijel province, 300 km east of Algiers, with an initial production capacity of 2 million tons of steel per year. The announcement was made this Monday (6) by the country’s prime minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, in Annaba, in the northeast, during a tripartite meeting between representatives from the government, workers and corporate sector.
He underscored that the Bellara steel complex is of great importance to the country since “it will consolidate the national strategy of ending steel imports.” The information was published by news agency Algérie Presse Service (APS).
The project was launched in 2015. In a second phase, the production capacity will be bumped to 4 million tons per year. The steel plant will manufacture flat and specialty steels to be used, for instance, in the railway and auto industries.
Brazil is one of the major global producers and exporters of iron ore, the raw material for producing steel. The country doesn’t export the product to Algeria, but has some Arab markets as major buyers in this sector: Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Oman is the main destination since Brazilian mining company Vale has an ore pellet plant and a maritime terminal for the distribution of the product in the region.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani