KurdistanObserver.com

OCI to Double Capacity in Kurdistan-Iraq OCI to invest in a new 2.5 million-ton greenfield cement plant in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

Cairo -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/07/2005 --

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OCI to Double Capacity in Kurdistan - Iraq

OCI to invest in a new 2.5 million-ton greenfield cement plant in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

Cairo, Egypt - 6 February 2005: Orascom Construction Industries (stock symbols: OCIC.CA / ORCI EY / OCICq.L / ORSD LI) announced that an OCI / Faruk Rasool Group / Dler Sayed Maged consortium has obtained regulatory approvals for the construction of a new greenfield cement plant in the Bazian area of Kurdistan with a total production capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. Construction of the plant is scheduled to begin during the second quarter 2005 with a target completion period of 26 months. Total investment cost for the new plant is estimated at US$ 300 million.

Currently, an OCI / Faruk Rasool Group consortium (51-49%) is undertaking the rehabilitation of the Tasluja cement plant near Suleimaneyah City which is the largest cement plant in Kurdistan - Iraq. An OCI / Polysius project team is mobilized on site and production is scheduled to start next month. The Tasluja plant should reach its full design capacity of 2.3 million tons by the beginning of 2006. With the completion of the new Bazian greenfield cement project in late 2007, the OCI Cement Group will have an annual production capacity in northern Iraq of 4.8 million tons and will have a total annual production capacity in emerging markets of 20 million tons, ranking it among the largest cement producers in the world.