The economy of the wilaya of Constantine
Cereals are the main crop, and durum wheat and barley are grown on the high plains in the south of the wilaya. Ibn Ziad is a farming commune, and wheat is its main crop.
Farming
Cereals are the main crop, and durum wheat and barley are grown on the high plains in the south of the wilaya. Ibn Ziad is a farming commune, and wheat is its main crop.
Machinery plants
Large plants of the Aïn Smara industrial zone date from the state industrial programme run by the company SONACOME. The shovels and cranes complex is now the company SOMATEL, and the compactors and compressors complex is now SOFARE. In 2026 both are subsidiaries of ENMTP, the state company that makes public works and building machinery.
In 2012 SOMATEL and the German group Liebherr formed a joint company, Somatel-Liebherr, owned 51% and 49%. It builds hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders and bulldozers under the Liebherr label, and its first bulldozer left the line in April 2013.
Industry and markets
The industrial zone of Oued Hamimime, in El-Khroub, is among the largest in the Constantine area. El-Khroub also has a large weekly market that draws buyers from far beyond the commune.
Crafts and mining
Copperware is a leading craft of Constantine, with a sales space at the Cité Bardo in the city centre.
In 1923 the Société des mines d'Aïn Kerma received a concession, or right to mine, for antimony, a metal, at Aïn Kerma. The concession of 388 hectares covered land at Aïn Kerma, in today's commune of Messaoud Boudjriou.
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