Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS), one of the major investments for steel production in Algeria, has temporarily halted operations at its steel melt shop and rolling mills for both wire rod and rebar. The stoppage will last throughout August and may take until mid-September, SteelOrbis has learned. The company is expected to resume operations once it receives the earlier booked raw material cargoes.
The key reason is that the startup of the 2.5 million mt per year DRI-unit has again been delayed for an indefinite period of time, and so the company has taken the decision to stop rolling operations for now. AQS is capable of 500,000 mt wire rod and 1.5 million mt rebar production per year.