Displaying items by tag: Iraq

Iraq: Mondi has announced that it recently started full production at its new industrial bags plant in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq. Together with its local partner Kaso Group this greenfield project is set to strengthen Mondi's industrial bags business in the expanding Middle East and North African (MENA) region. The plant is the first industrial bags plant in Iraq and will serve the growing cement industry that is rebuilding the country.

"We are proud to announce the opening of our new greenfield plant in Sulaymaniah," said Issa Azar, regional manager (MENA) Mondi Industrial Bags.

"Iraq is now one of the Middle East's growing countries and the construction industry is helping to rebuild the rebuild the nation", explained Abdel Hafez Abki, managing director of Mondi Kaso Iraq. "The new plant further strengthens Mondi as a reliable industrial bags partner in the region."

As Omar Ismail, managing director of Mass Iraq Company for industrial investment illustrates, "We are pleased with the startup of Mondi's bags factory in Iraq and are looking forward to further constructive cooperation between both companies."

Rozhgar Barzan, procurement and sourcing manager at United Cement Company (Lafarge Iraq), said, "Having Mondi's industrial bags plant close to our cement factories strengthens our long-term business relationship and is important for good logistics and supply management."

Chinese and Iranian companies have released information on two new projects in Iraq. Chinese cement equipment provider Sinoma has signed a contract with the Faruk Investment Group to build a cement clinker production line and the Islamic Republic News Agency has reported Iran's intention to build a 2Mt/yr plant.

Sinoma's project seems targeted at the domestic market. It is based at Sulaymaniyah, at one of Faruk Group's two plants that it runs with Lafarge near the northern Kurdish city. Lafarge also runs a third plant in Kerbala that announced the arrangement of a US$70m loan for renovations in January 2013. Lafarge holds a cement production capacity of 6.5Mt/yr, 20% of Iraq's total installed capacity of 32.5Mt/yr. Although, following years of neglect installed capacity and actual cement produced can vary significantly. Faruk Group's decision to choose Sinoma marks a move away from the German firm ThyssenKruppPolysius whom they have used previously. The new line will be Sinoma's seventh in Iraq through its Nanjing subsidiary.

Meanwhile, the Iranian project carries more international motives because the clinker for the plant will come exclusively from Iran. The build is based in the southern Muthanna province and is being overseen by the Iranian Azar-Abadegan Khoy cement plant. As reported in late January 2013, clinker stocks rose in Iran due to a decline in cement demand in the country. Iraq is one of the countries Iran has been able to export cement to during the 2012 – 2013 Persian year. In this context expanding into Iraq makes a lot of sense to combat potential Iranian overcapacity.

In addition all the products made at this plant will carry Iranian branding. Given that this plant is in southern Iraq relatively near to the Saudi border this will complicate any plans to sell stock across the border. As we report this week in Global Cement Weekly, Saudi cement producers have been asked to build reserves of cement to manage the shortage better.

Both projects reveal some of the issues facing Iraq's cement industry, specifically Iraq's redevelopment and the pressures it faces lying between massive demand for cement in Saudi Arabia and overcapacity in Iran. After years of low capacity utilisation rates, Iraq is predicted to hit a production capacity of 22Mt/yr by the end of 2014 with demand expected to reach 35Mt/yr.

For more information on the Iraqi cement industry read Global Cement Magazine's article.

Iraq: Iran plants to build a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Iraq, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The project will cost around US$245m with an opening date set for 2015. Cement produced at the plant will be exported using Iranian brand names.

Iraq: Sinoma International Engineering's Nanjing subsidiary has signed an EPC contract with Iraq-based Faruk Investment Group to build a 5300t/day cement clinker production line. The project is the seventh cement production line to be built in Iraq by Sinoma's Nanjing subsidiary.

Iraq: International Finance Coporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a US$70m loan to help renovate a cement factory in Iraq.

The financing will allow Kerbala Cement Manufacturing (KCML), a subsidiary of Lafarge, to rehabilitate a state-owned plant near the city of Kerbala. KCML will undertake the work under a concession agreement with the government of Iraq. The financing is expected to aid Iraq's construction sector.

"This financing will help address the cement shortage that Iraq is facing and help the country meet supply gaps in its infrastructure," said Guy Ellena, IFC Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services in Eastern and Southern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

KCML is a joint venture between Lafarge and MerchantBridge, a London-based private equity group. The financing is being supplemented by a US$20m loan from Proparco, a development financial institution funded by the French Development Agency and private shareholders.

Iraq: Sinoma (Suzhou) Construction Co has placed an order for an MPS 5000 B vertical roller mill for raw material grinding from Germany's Gebr. Pfeiffer. The grinding plant will be set in GRD Cement Plant Company Tainall's 5000t/day cement plant located near the town of Sulaimaniah in northern Iraq. The MPS vertical roller mill on order is designed for a capacity of 450t/hour at a product fineness of 12 % R 90µm.

Iraq: The board of directors of Pakistan's Lucky Cement Company has decided to set up a greenfield cement grinding plant with a production capacity of 0.87Mt/yr in Iraq under a joint venture. The board also decided to invest US$15m in the cement plant, which is estimated to cost US$30m as 50% share of its equity. The technical and financial evaluation of the proposed project has already been carried out.

Iraq: Sinoma International Engineering Co Ltd, a Jiangsu Province-based Chinese company principally engaged in the mechanical equipment and cement businesses, has recently signed an engineering contract with Iraq-based Gulf Research Development. Sinoma will build a 5000t/day cement production line in the Kurdistan city of Sulaymaniyah at a cost of $180 million.

Iraq: Iraq's cabinet has approved a USD 692m contract for the construction of a massive cement factory in southern Iraq. The 185-acre factory will be built in Diwaniya province, around 150km south of Baghdad according to government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

The contract was awarded to a joint venture group consisting of an Iraqi company and an Italian firm, but officials declined to give further details. "(The cabinet) has given approval to award an investment licence to erect a cement factory in Diwaniya province to a (local) firm, which is in a joint venture with an Italian firm for a total value of USD 692m," said the cabinet in a statement.

Iraq has some of the world's largest oil reserves and is opening itself up to foreign investors to help it rebuild after decades of war and economic isolation. The government has set a target of USD 30bn for total investment in 2011, mostly in the energy, housing and agriculture sectors.

The National Investment Commission has previously put together an investment plan of 750 projects valued at USD 600bn for rebuilding the country. Its five-year plan totals USD 186bn, of which USD 86bn is to come from foreign and local private investment.