Cement imports into Algeria have doubled in the first four months of 2013, surpassing US$116.2m when compared with US$53.5m for the equivalent period last year – an increase of 117.5 per cent, according to Algeria’s National Centre for Customs Information and Statistics.

In the four-month period, Algeria imported 1.313Mt, a 116.4 per cent advance from the 606,625t during 4M12. The launch of new projects and the resumption of building and public works projects since the start of the spring has led to a rise in demand.

Algeria suffers from a chronic cement shortage of around 5Mta as local cement plants produce around 18Mt. As  a result, Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algerie (GICA) has imported cement since June 2012.