French firm Lafrage to invest in expansion of Moroccan cement plants

21/06/2006

[File]

The Moroccan government and French firm Lafrage Ciments signed a 2 billion-dirham agreement on Tuesday (20 June) to expand and revamp the Tetuan and Tangier cement plants to boost their production capacity to meet the country's increasing domestic demand. Lafrage will expand the Tetuan plant to double output to 2 million tonnes annually, in addition to the installation of new storage space and packing facilities. The Tangier plant will be modernised into a cement grinding unit, which is projected to produce 1 million tonnes of cement per year. Morocco’s cement industry generates around $800m annually, according to official figures.

In 2005, Morocco inked three conventions providing for $644m in investments in the cement sector. The deals aimed to boost production to meet demand for infrastructure and housing and to prevent the country from becoming a cement importer by 2007. (Le Matin, Le Economiste, Aujourd'hui Maroc, MAP)