AQS aims to stop steel imports

Algerian-Qatari steelmaking partnership Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS) brought on line its third rolling mill at the Bellara mega industrial complex close to Algiers at the end of July, with a view to stopping imports.

The company "aims in the short and medium term to effectively meet the needs of the national market for steel products in quantity and quality, with the strategic objective of stopping the import of steel", AQS said.

"As for our long-term prospects, they can be summarised as the second phase of the project's investment programme, bringing production capacity to more than 4mn t/yr, with an implementation budget of nearly $2bn."

The remainder of the project, including a 2.5mn t/yr direct reduction unit and two electric steel plants with a crude steel capacity of 2.2mn t/yr, will be brought on line by the end of this year.

The facility will have the capacity to produce 2mn t/yr of finished steel — 1.5mn t of rebar and 500,000t of wire rod — to meet the domestic construction demands of Algeria.

Algeria is a major importer of finished and semi-finished steel products for rolling, primarily from the CIS region. In 2018, Algeria imported 982,992t of billet, 533,855t of which was from Ukraine and 281,344t from Russia.

The country's total steel imports have generally been decreasing in the past few years. In 2018, Algeria imported 2.9mn t of steel, compared with 4.5mn t in 2017 and 5.2mn t in 2016. It has also vastly reduced import licenses for rebar in recent years.

Ukraine accounts for about 20pc of Algeria's steel imports, with 575,623t in 2018, down from 947,839t in 2017. Russia consistently accounts for about 25pc of Algeria's imports, which totalled 694,824t in 2018, down by 40pc on the 1.1mn t recorded in 2017.

The goal of the first phase of the Bellara project is to satisfy local demand, while the second phase aims to make Algeria a regional and international steel exporter, the company said.