Algeria: GICA breaks production record in 2015

Groups industrial des cements d’Algérie (GICA) broke its production record in 2015 when it manufactured 12,143,557t of cement, up five per cent when compared with its output of 11,55,280t in 2014.

The volumes produced by the group’s 12 cement plants were “all sold in the domestic market, thereby honouring all orders and requirements expressed by the construction market,” said GICA.

In the first 10 days of 2016, the group has produced 269,128t and sold 241,248t or 90 per cent of its output.

GICA plans to increase its production to close to 23Mt by 2019. To reach this target, the company plans to expand capacity at four plants and build two new cement works. The expansion of Aïn El Kebira (Sétif) and Chlef will take output to 16Mta at the end of 2016. The new lines at Zahana (Mascara) and Béni Saf (Aïn Temouchent) will add a further 3.5Mta while the new works at Oum El Bough and Béchard, which will enter production in November 2018, raise capacity by 3Mta.

The group said that once domestic demand was satisfied, it would be looking at exporting the surplus output.