Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, has formally commissioned a new steel complex owned by Casablanca, Morocco-based group Maghreb Steel, according to the Moroccan news agency MAP. The new facility is located in Chellalate, a few kilometers from Casablanca, and has cost an investment of MAD 5.7 billion (about $670 million).
The new complex will employ about 2,000 people and has an annual production capacity of 2.9 million mt of finished steel products, mainly construction steel and also flat steel for the white goods industry. The output will be mainly directed to the European markets (56 percent) and the African market (27 percent), but also to the Asian (13 percent) and Middle Eastern (four percent) markets.
The whole operation is aimed at satisfying demand from the growing Moroccan economy. Meanwhile, the whole Chellalate area will host a number of industrial and commercial units, which are to provide jobs for about 20,000 locals.