Construction on the Ben-Zireg cement works will be started in the first quarter of 2015, said Abdelkader Bouaichaoui, CEO of Société Saoura Ciment, a subsidiary of Algeria’s Groupe Industriel des Ciments d’Algerie (GICA).

“We expect to sign the contracts required to realise this important industrial project before the end of December with a Chinese partner, so they can start work on the plant,” he said.

The Ben-Zireg works will be situated on a 60ha site, some 40km north of Bechar and near the RN-6 highway which connects the location to the provinces in the northwest and southwest. In addition, the works is linked to the Bechar-Oran railway via Sidi Bel Abbes.

The 1Mta works is expected to come online in 2017. It will draw its raw materials from the limestone deposits of Jebel Madou and local shale.