Ranking among the goods shipped abroad by Algeria as part of economic diversification efforts, building materials—primarily cement—are expanding their presence across foreign markets. A major operation was executed toward Italy and Libya, originating this time from the Port of Skikda.
Approximately 19,000 tonnes of cement and clinker were loaded at the Port of Skikda late last week, bound for Italy and Libya, confirmed Saturday the commercial director of the Skikda Port Company (EPS), Ilyas Manaa. In his statement to APS, he affirmed that these actions fit within “the drive to boost national non-hydrocarbon exports” and “strengthen port logistics activity”, reflecting “the variety of construction material loading methods alongside EPS capabilities to handle simultaneous export loadings across multiple berths.”
The loading procedure took place across three concurrent shipments at an accelerated pace on berths 4, 8, and 11, totaling 18,950 tonnes, according to details provided by the official. He noted that loading on the vessel Mostein occurred at berth 4, taking on 4,600 tonnes of cement packaged in big bags heading to Italy.
Mr. Manaa added that the loading of 6,750 tonnes of clinker commenced at berth 8 onto the MV Yeba for export toward Italy, whereas at berth 11, the vessel Princess Anna loaded a cargo of 7,600 tonnes of bulk cement bound for Libya.
Furthermore, the Port of Skikda “met the challenge of handling heavy cargo, as demonstrated by last week’s offloading at the new oil port’s mixed berth of several heavy and oversized packages shipped from the Republic of Korea, including a 132-tonne turbine measuring 43 meters,” Mr. Manaa added.
He stated that the maneuver was carried out “in a professional, precise, and rigorous manner,” for which the port enterprise mobilized all necessary human and technical assets, thereby demonstrating the port infrastructure’s capacity to process highly complex industrial equipment intended for major energy and industrial ventures.
This shipment stands alongside other export operations directed toward additional countries, such as the United States of America and Portugal. Last May, the Annaba Port Company announced that three vessels were loading 42,900 tonnes of white cement and clinker intended for export at the Port of Annaba. White cement is exported by Biskria Cement to Italy (1,900 tonnes) and the United States (33,000 tonnes), while clinker (8,000 tonnes) is exported by Holcim El-Djazair to Portugal.