Board’s Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani
The Board of Directors of Qatar Mining Company held a meeting and discussed the progress of the company’s important developmental projects and growth strategy, including the company’s upcoming steel plant in Algeria, which is set to become operational before the end of this year.
The Board also issued needful recommendations and took important decisions with regard to the company’s activities.
The meeting, which was presided over by the Board’s Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, appreciated the efforts of the Chief Executive Officer and the company’s team in developing their current projects and initiatives aiming to maximize the benefit and outputs in line with the vision and mission of the company.
Qatar Mining Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the State of Qatar, was established in 2010 with the aim of implementing targeted high-value development investment projects in the mining and mineral sector and becoming a multi-product international mining company by 2024.
Among the company’s objectives is to secure the supply of raw materials for existing industries in Qatar and to focus on investment in commodities for which domestic and international demand is high. In 2012, Qatar Mining Company established one of its major subsidiaries, Qatar Steel International, which owns 49 percent of the Algerian-Qatari Steel Company, the owner of the largest iron and steel plant in the region, located in
Algeria’s Jijel, 359 km east of Algiers, the largest Arab joint project in Algeria. The iron and steel plant in Baalara built an area of about 216 hectares, making it the largest steel industrial complex in Algeria and the region.
Sheikh Faisal said that the project is the first of the fruits of the cooperation agreement signed between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Algeria in 2013. In January 2014, the legal framework was signed to establish an Algerian- Jigel. Then, in March 2015, the foundation stone was laid and the starting point of the construction of the industrial complex was given by the Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and the former Prime Minister of Algeria. The project was entrusted to major companies from Italy, China and others with global experience in the completion of such projects.
The CEO of Qatar Mining Company, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Obaidli, revealed the accelerated pace of construction work on its project, the Belara Steel and Steel Plant currently being implemented in Algeria, which is being implemented in partnership with the Algerian government for the establishment of the Algerian Qatari Steel Company. The factory is about 96 percent complete.
The project will be completed and fully operational in the fourth quarter of this year (Q4 2019), with the direct reduction unit entering the service and production as it is considered to be one of the largest direct reduction units in the world.
He also praised the Board of Directors of the Algerian-Qatari Steel Company and the company’s executive management team. At the same time, the factory will be designed to operate and produce the plant as soon as possible. The plant will produce 2 million tonnes of reinforcing steel of various sizes according to the needs of the local Algerian market with a convenient possibility to export some quantities to the international markets.
The Algerian steel company has good reputation in the world steel market. He pointed out that the iron and steel factory started in 2017 to obtain quality and safety certificates from the world’s leading specialised bodies as part of the company’s efforts and its readiness to export steel to international markets.
It is worth mentioning that this steel plant project uses the latest technologies available worldwide. Maintaining safety and environment is a priority of the Algerian-Qatari Steel Company
Al Obaidly said that the number of employees in the factory currently reached more than 750 working staff, waiting for access to 1,800 workers directly with the completion of the rest of the project and the project will create more than 5000 indirect jobs, which will contribute greatly to the operation of the people of the region and creating additional jobs.
