Loesche has sold five large vertical roller mills to the emerging cement market in Algeria. The local building sector in Algeria is one of the drivers of increasing cement demand, which current stands at 24.5 million tpy, and is not being met by production in the country. As such, several large-scale cement projects have recently been started in the country. Loesche is providing two mills for cement raw meal and three mills for cement clinker to one of these: SARL Biskria Ciment’s plant in Biskra, 300 km south east of Algiers. The mills will enable cement raw meal to be ground to a fineness of 12% sieving residue with 90 µm, at a processing capacity of 500 tph, and the cement clinker to a fineness of 3400 Blaine.
The three new cement clinker mills have already been delivered and commissioning is planned for autumn 2017. CMBI Construction Co will act as contractor.
For SARL Biskria Ciment, Algeria is not only a strategically important market in the Mediterranean region. By expanding its production capacity, the company aims to acquire national and international competitive advantages and seeks to reinforce socioeconomic development in Algeria by better serving the market with local products, thereby ensuring a stable supply.
The commissioning of the new cement production line should see production volumes in the Algerian market rise considerable over the course of 2017, and contribute to a reduction in cement imports.