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The annual cement demand in Iraq has soared 30 million tonnes. (FILE)
A UAE-based firm has been offered an investment licence to build a cement factory in Iraq. According to reports negotiations are at final stages to build the new factory with a capacity to produce more than one million tonnes of cement.
The annual demand for cement in Iraq's reconstruction efforts has soared beyond 30 million tonnes, almost ten times that of the present annual local production of around three to four million tonnes.
An Iranian firm based in the UAE was given the license in southern Iraq by provincial authorities in Thi-Qar – located in Iraq's southern region, bordered in the south by Basra and Muthanna.
"The Thi-Qar Investment Board has given the firm an investment licence to build a cement factory in the province," Mohamed Aziz Al Hindawi, Marketing Director for Thi-Qar Investment Board is reported to have told Aswat Al Iraq news agency. The factory in Iraq will be able to produce as much as 3,000 tonnes of cement per day. No additional details have been provided about the cost of the project or its likely start.
France's Lafarge and Iraqi partner Asiacell have already announced plans to invest around $550 million (Dh2 billion) to raise cement capacity in Iraq even as the country plans to attract more investments into cement manufacturing.
About six to eight million tonees of cement is imported into Iraq every year to meet the urgent demands.
The head of the Iraqi Cement State Company had during the beginning of the year said that the Iraqi cement industry's total annual production, from 17 factories, is only around four million tonnes.
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