To alleviate the present cement shortage, Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algérie (GICA) has appointed Star Commercial Ltd of the British Virgin Islands to import 240,000t of cement. Algeria’s supply-demand gap currently runs over 5Mt as the country’s cement plants produce 18Mt.

The volume, divided in consignments of 80,000t will be delivered to the DNC subsidiaries in the port of Djendjen, Sodmac in Oran port and Sodismac in the port of Alger.

The value of Portland cement imports reached US$283.8m, up nearly 72 per cent from US$165.1m in the first nine months of 2013. In volume terms, imports rose from 1.826mt to 3.076Mt.