Iraq’s Finance Ministry has approved a US$60m investment to reconstruct a government-owned cement plant in the south-central Najaf governorate, according to Zawya. Work on the rehabilitation and rebuilding of the Kufa cement plant is expected to begin once the funds are released within the next few days.

Fadhil Al-Fatlawi, a member of the Parliament's Labour and Social Affairs Committee, has noted that the plans are part of the government’s plan to restore all war-damaged factories.

While Mr Fatlawi did not state the current output capacity of the plant, it was built over 40 years ago with a designed capacity of 180,000tpa.