Economic and political crises in Algeria have a negative impact on local construction activity and naturally affect steel demand in the country, according to the local Confederation of Algeria’s Industrialists.
The confederation stated that up to 60 percent of the companies in the local construction sector have stopped their activities or are about to do so. As a result, the Algerian authorities expect the production of building materials in Algeria, including steel production, to decrease by 70-80 percent as a lot of suppliers have either halted their operations or decreased their utilization rates significantly. In addition, political arrests have led to bankruptcies of the companies connected with construction and infrastructure developments, sources say. Local entrepreneurs fear that over 36,000 of the entities are in danger of vanishing, which may lead to 175,000 workers being laid off.
The crisis of the sector, being more politically than economically driven, results in low steel demand in Algeria, affecting local and foreign suppliers. According to the sources, most of the domestic rolling companies are working at minimal capacity utilization rates, struggling with low rebar demand and challenging billet purchases. “There is no real demand from Algeria, just fishing. Anyway, the internal market is almost dead,” an international trader mentioned.
