Sider El Hadjar Company is currently in the process of exporting a shipment of hot-rolled steel coils estimated at 15 thousand tons from the port of Annaba towards Italy within the framework of an export program for 2021, as informed by the company’s chairman, Jamila Lebyoud.
In a statement to Radio Algeria at the headquarters of the General Directorate of the Foundation, in the presence of the Deputy General Manager of Sider El Hadjar Company Lotfi Manea and Communication Officer Farid Dridi, Mrs. Laboudh explained that the Sider El Hadjar Company, which is making great efforts to maintain its position in the market and enter international markets with competitive products, has prepared a plan for the current year to export 220 thousand tons of various flat and long iron products, at an estimated cost of 100 million dollars, which will represent 20% of the company’s turnover.
The official stated that, within the framework of the business plan for export for the year 2019, Sider El Hadjar had recorded an export of 51 million dollars (33 billion DA), which represented 17% of the company’s turnover, with a total volume of iron products estimated at 153 thousand tons compared to 90 thousand tons. It was exported during 2020, with an estimated value of 26 million dollars.
The decline recorded in the volume of production of Sider El Hadjar Company for the year 2020 is due to the negative effects of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which affected commercial transactions and the pace of production of the iron and steel factory with stones, whose products are used to cover the needs of the national market of various iron products and are exported to countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Among them are Italy, France, and Spain, as well as Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, India, and Pakistan, among others.
On the other hand, the management of Sider El Hadjar Company aspires to launch the second phase of the investment plan for which a budget of 45 billion AD has been allocated, which will include steel plants, hot and cold rolling units and other industrial equipment that will enable the company to diversify its iron products in the “soonest terms”, according to the report. Ms. Labawhoud’s tags.
The current imbalance between the returns of the units that benefited from the rehabilitation and modernization within the framework of the first phase of the investment plan, specifically the hot zone and other units that have not yet benefited from the modernization and rehabilitation, negatively affects the pace of production and the general return of the company. The investment plan “requires a maximum of 24 months”.
The current production capacity of Sider El Hadjar ompany is estimated at 750 thousand tons of iron products. After the implementation of the second phase of the investment plan, it is expected that 1 million tons of iron products exceeded 1 million tons of iron products in Sider El Hadjar Company, which employs about 6 thousand workers.