Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal has announced that it has finalized a strategic agreement with the Algerian state-owned company Sider, including an investment plan of US$763 million for the steel complex at Annaba and the mines in Ouenza and Boukhadra.
Accordingly, a new rolling mill for rebar and wire rod with a production capacity of 1 million mt will be built, more than doubling the plant's production capacity to 2.2 million mt per year by 2017, as well as a new electric steel plant, including an electric arc furnace and a continuous casting line.
ArcelorMittal stated that this plan will ensure a long-term future for mining in Tebessa and steelmaking in Annaba, where the production unit will be modernized through the relining of the blast furnace, modernization of the sinter plant, the steel plant and the rolling mills.
Meanwhile, according to the investment plan, ArcelorMittal is selling its majority stake in its Algerian unit to the Algerian state, with the state holding 51 percent shares in both ArcelorMittal Annaba and ArcelorMittal Tebessa.