Bellara steel complex, which is the second in Algeria after that of El Hadjar in Annaba (600-km east of Algiers), is the fruit of a partnership based on 49/51 rule with SIDER and the National Investment Fund and Qatar Steel International.
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The steel complex will begin, in the few coming days, production tests with an annual capacity of 2 million tonnes of iron for building, before reaching 5 million tonnes.
The construction works, launched in March 2015 by Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, in the industrial park of Bellara (45km east of Jijel) have progressed at a fast pace with a view to meeting the deadlines, the assistant General Manager of AQS (Algerian-Qatari steel), Sofiane Chaib Setti told APS.
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The complex, worth over US$2 billion, would help to achieve Algeria's self-sufficiency in iron and steel products, said Minister of Industry and Mining Abdeslam Bouchouareb, adding that the country's import bill hit US$10 billion in 2011.
