China National Building Material Co Ltd (CNBM) has started work on a US$ 250 million project to build a cement plant in Iraq. The Chinese company has an Amman-based Iraqi partner, the al-Doh company, which will provide the investment funds while the Chinese company will be retained to build the plant. It will be located near the city of Samawa in the southern province of Muthana and will start producing cement in about 18 months. The initial production target will be 1 million tpa rising to 2 million tpa in three years.
Demand for cement is expected to soar once rebuilding gets into gear after years of war and underinvestment, which has left a housing shortage estimated to be as high as 3 million homes.
Earlier this year, Lafarge announced that it had won a US$ 200 million contract to renovate an Iraqi cement plant in the southern province of Kerbala.