The Ministry of Industry announced About contracting to establish a sponge iron production plant in Basra Governorate .
Minister of Industry Khaled Batal Al-Najm said in a press conference that “the companies affiliated with the ministry and operating in the governorate are important, including the General Company for the Production of Southern Fertilizers, which produces DAP and urea fertilizers, which are being supplied to farmers these days according to the winter agriculture plan,” noting that “the company previously supplied the ministry with 50,000 tons, and now it has produced 2,400 tons, and has contracted for 150,000 tons of raw materials .”
He pointed out that “the coming period will witness the operation of the urea fertilizer production plant in Abu Al-Khaseeb, which has been closed for more than 30 years,” indicating “the importance of investment for the Ministry of Industry and that the past months have witnessed the offering of hundreds of investment opportunities .”
The minister added that “the coming days will witness the initial test of the steel factory, which was delayed for several months due to some obstacles,” noting that “the rolling mill continues to produce reinforcing steel .”
Batal confirmed that the ministry has so far achieved 80% of the government program related to the ministry, and that heavy industries are complementary industries, and that the energy problem is one of the most prominent obstacles facing the national industry.
For his part, the General Manager of the Iron and Steel Company, Abbas Hayal, explained that “the coming days will witness the full operation of the iron and steel plant after the completion rate today reached 92%, and that the design capacity of this plant reaches half a million tons annually .”
He stressed that “next month will witness a contract with one of the companies to build a factory for the production of sponge iron with a capacity of one million tons annually, which is the raw material for twenty iron and steel factories,” noting that “it is supposed to produce 7 million tons annually, but it is currently producing 2 million tons due to the shortage of sponge iron and its reliance on scrap iron.”
