Reuters reported that Algeria's largest private company, Cevital is awaiting government approval to build USD 7 billion aluminium plant with annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.

Mr Issad Rebrab CEO of Cevital said that the project is part of the family owned firm's expansion strategy in Algeria which is trying to develop domestic industry and reduce its reliance on oil and gas exports.

He said that we have submitted details of the project to the authorities. Unfortunately we are still waiting for authorization from the government.

Cevital has investments in sectors ranging from sugar refining and car imports to vegetable oil and hypermarkets. Mr Rebrab said that about plans to build USD 3.8 billion steel complex and to double its sugar exports to 1 million tonnes.

Metals companies are looking to Algeria because of its good infrastructure, abundant energy resources and proximity to European markets but some investors say its business climate is challenging. As we are in the early stages of evaluating this opportunity it would be inappropriate to speculate about possible investment and production details.

(Sourced from Reuters)