Iraq Strengthens Investment in Cement Industry

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Iraq has a cement production capacity of 12 million tons per year, but the nation's local demand for cement is nearing 25 million tons per year. Iraq has many infrastructure projects that are necessary for rehabilitation, modernization or reconstruction. The Ayn al-Iraq housing project, which encompasses 20,000 units at a cost of $2 billion, was announced for the northern city of Mosul, which is the second-largest city in Iraq.

Iraq is rehabilitating many existing cement plants, such as the Sinjar Cement Plant, which is northwest of Mosul, with the aid of foreigner investors. The plant rehabilitation and upgrade will cost $100 million, according to the agreement signed between the Northern Cement State Company (NCSC) and a Turkish company. The company plans to commence commercial production in 2012, with a capacity of 1.8 million tons per year.

Iraq will construct new cement plants, in cooperation with experienced international companies, such as China Sinoma International Engineering (SHSE:600970). In December 2010, company subsidiary Sinoma (Suzhou) Construction Company Limited signed a contract, worth $113 million, with Iraq investment firm Mass Iraq to construct a cement plant in Sulaymaniyah that will have an annual daily capacity of 5,300 tons. The contract covers the design, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning, trial production and final examination of the plant.

Based on such projects, Iraq has targeted stronger investment in the field of building materials, particularly cement and steel, to reduce imports and the gap between production and local demand. Iraq is considered the largest importer of cement from Iran, with 1.5 million tons imported last year.

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