Algeria: Steel
Industry Overview
Industry was a growing factor in
Algerian economy, and in 1990 constituted 10 percent of GDP. Steel production
began in El Hadjar near Annaba in the early 1970s, when the government was
emphasizing more on heavy industry expansion. A decade later, however, as a
result of poor management, shortage of inputs, and bureaucratic influence this
plant was operating at 20 percent of its expanded capacity of 2 million tons per
year. The Bendjedid government continued to invest in manufacturing, and since
1970s, manufacturers of smaller steel mills have been located in many parts of
the country and have created some worthwhile opportunities for private
investors.
In 1999, during the reorganization of Enterprise Nationale de Sidérurgie, the
El-Hadjar steelmaking operations at Annaba were spun off as Sté. Algérienne de
Fabrication Sidérurgique (ALFASID). In 2000, ALFASID produced 841,957 metric
tons (t) of liquid steel. Its mills produced 303,377 t of hot-rolled coil,
143,142 t of cold-rolled coil, 83,498 t of galvanized products, and 157,016 t of
rounds and wire rod. ALFASID continued its modernization program in 2000 with
the renovation of 21 of the 65 furnaces in coke oven battery No. 1 by awarding
Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau GmbH & Co. of Austria the contract to
rehabilitate the hot-rolling mill. In July 2000, SIDER - Entreprise Nationale de
Sidérurgie awarded VOEST-ALPINE INDUSTRIEANLAGENBAU (VAI) a contract for the
revamping of the hot strip mill located at the El Hadjar works of their
subsidiary ALFASID (Annaba, Algeria). The contract was valued at approx. EUR 50
m. The revamped hot strip mill was successfully commissioned in June 2002.
LNM Holdings N.V. of the Netherlands Antilles acquired 70% equity interest in
ALFASID in 2001; the Groupe Industriel Sider retained 30% interest. The new
steel company was named Ispat Annaba s.p.a. Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
GmbH & Co. of Austria continued work on the rehabilitation of the hot strip mill
at Ispat Annaba’s El Hadjar works that had been contracted for prior to the sale
of the steelworks. LNM Holdings also acquired 70% equity interest in the
Boukhrada and Ouenza iron ore mines from FERPHOS and renamed the new iron ore
company Ispat Tebessa.
Algeria's non-fuel minerals were
used extensively as raw material for domestic manufacturing, but some, such as
high-grade iron ore, phosphate, mercury, and zinc, have also been exported since
the early 1970s. The state mining and prospecting corporation, the National
Company for Mineral Research and Exploration (Société Nationale de Recherches et
d'Exploitations Minières), was established in 1967. As a result of the
government's decentralization policy, the company was restructured in 1983 into
separate production and distribution entities. The most important of these were
an iron ore and phosphate company known as Ferphos, which had three production
units and a port complex at Annaba, and another company called Erem that
specialized in conducting mineral research at Boumerdas on the Mediterranean Sea
and Tamanrasset in the south.
Iron ore is found at Beni Saf in the northwest and the Ouenza and Bou Khadra
region near the eastern border. Production levels have tended to vary
significantly over the years, fluctuating between 1 million and 2 million tons
between the early 1970s and the early 1990s. The deposits at Ouenza represent 75
percent of total production and have been exported primarily to Italy and
Britain. However, there are massive reserves of medium-grade ore at Gara
Djebilet, near Tindouf in the west. These deposits of an estimated 2,000 million
tons of medium-grade ore have been said to be the largest in the Arab world.
Most major mines are linked by rail to Algeria's ports. Djebel Onk phosphate
mines near the Tunisian border, as well as the Ouenza iron ore mines, are linked
by electric rail line to Annaba.
Iron ore mining in Algeria 
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