Qatar partners with Algeria to build steel factory
Factory will produce 2.5m tonnes of long steel in its first phase, Algerian minister says
Qatar and Algeria have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a steel manufacturing complex in the North African country. Algeria would have a 51% stake in the plant, to be located in Bellara, some 360km east of Algiers, with Qatar holding the rest.
In its first phase the factory will produce 2.5 million tonnes of long steel, a figure likely to increase to five million tonnes under a second phase with flat steel and other types of steel to be produced, the Algerian Minister of Industry, Mohamed Benmeradi said, adding that this production will help in particular in the development of the country’s railway industry.
Qatar has been ramping up its investments in North Africa’s telecom sector and other industries.
“We have other investment interests in Algeria, including the establishment of private car plant project under the German Volkswagen trademark, and we are working to realise this according to a tripartite partnership between Qatar, Algeria and the German car manufacturer,” said the Qatari Minister of Economy and Finance, Yousef Hussein Kamal.
