Blast furnace No. 2 of Sider El-Hadjar complex (Annaba) – Algeria  was put back into service on Friday, September 19, 2020, after a six-month shutdown of activities due to the preventive measures imposed by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The start of the re-commissioning of blast furnace No. 2 was given following the directives of the Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad and Minister of Industry, Ferhat Ait Ali Braham, during their last visit on 13 September at Sider El Hadjar to revive economic activity in this mega industrial unit and to revalue the steel industry in Algeria.

The re-commissioning of blast furnace No. 2 took place in the presence of the President and CEO of Imetal, Tarik Bouslama, managers of Sider complex and representatives of the social partner of the same complex.

It should be remembered that the shutdown of blast furnace No. 2 was decided last March as part of the measures imposed by the repercussions of the health crisis linked to the spread of the coronavirus.

During this same period, the production units using semi-finished products and those responsible for marketing the stock of products from the Sider El Hadjar complex continue their activities.

The managers of the El-Hadjar steel complex expect production of 600,000 tonnes for the current year which should theoretically increase in 2021 to 700,000 tonnes, before reaching one (1) million tonnes at by 2023 thanks to investments intended to increase the volume of the complex’s annual production and to meet market needs with competitive industrial materials.

The managers of El-Hadjar expect production of 600,000 tonnes for the current year, which should theoretically increase in 2021 to 700,000 tonnes, before reaching one (1) million tonnes by 2023 thanks to investments intended to increase the volume of the complex’s annual production and to meet market needs with competitive industrial materials.