ASEC Cement, Qemmet El-Iraq Win 14-year Strategic Contract

A consortium of ASEC Cement, a portfolio company of ASEC Holding, and Iraq’s Qemmet El-Iraq has won a contract to rehabilitate and manage for 14 years the Muthanna Cement Plant in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq.

The value of the contract was not disclosed.

The consortium won the Muthanna contract following an international tender; work will begin in Q2 2014, with a view to reaching the full 2 MTPA production capacity by August 2016.

Representatives of the consortium — including Abulla Hussein of Qemmet El-Iraq as well as ASEC Cement Chairman and CEO Giorgio Bodo — attended a signing ceremony in Baghdad with Southern Cement Co., the state holding company that controls Muthanna Cement, on 28 August 2013.

“We are delighted to be entering this new market with a high-profile project that is economically vital to Iraq,” said Bodo. “Iraq has embarked on a robust plan to rebuild and modernize its infrastructure and has launched major housing, industrial, and community projects. The rehabilitation of Muthanna is an important part of Iraq’s investment in bridging the supply gap, particularly in the south.”

ASEC Holding is Citadel Capital’s (CCAP.CA) platform company in the cement and construction sector.

The news of the Muthana consortium comes after subsidiary ASEC Minya started production of cement at its 2.0 MPTA plant in Minya. The US$ 360 million greenfield plant has implemented the most advanced technology in cement and clinker manufacturing and is in strict adherence with international environmental standards. ASEC Minya’s high-quality Portland Grey cement capitalizes on the abundance of limestone in the Minya governorate to serve the deficit market of Upper Egypt.