Algeria eyes cement exports as surplus nears 20m tonnes

Algérie 360 reports that Algeria now makes far more cement than it uses, leaving a surplus of about 20m tonnes a year that producers want to export.

Algeria once imported much of its cement. Large investment in new cement plants has since reversed the position.

Production capacity reached about 41m tonnes a year in 2024, according to figures Algérie 360 cites, while domestic consumption is about 23m tonnes a year.

The surplus is close to 20m tonnes a year, so the country could export almost as much cement as it consumes.

Tayeb Zitouni, trade minister at the time, gave the figures. Cement exports reached 747m dollars in 2023, up from 60m dollars in 2019.

Algérie 360 calculates that the value rose more than 12 times in four years.

In 2023, Algeria was the world's second largest clinker exporter, behind Vietnam, with sales of 439m dollars. Clinker is a semi-finished product that buyers grind to make their own cement.

France was the top buyer in 2023, with purchases of 172m dollars, ahead of Italy with 113m and Belgium with 89m. A large share of these sales goes to Europe.

The country also ranks first in Africa and second in the Mediterranean for cement and clinker exports.

The port of Ténès shipped 15,000 tonnes of cement and clinker to Europe in September 2026.

Ports and a new European carbon tax still slow exports.

Kamel Rezig, minister of foreign trade, met cement producers on 21 September. They reviewed exports for the first half of the year and studied new markets.

A year earlier, in September 2025, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered that a port be dedicated to cement exports. The port must be able to take large ships and could use floating silos.

Exporters have also had half of their sea and air transport costs covered since February 2025.

The authorities want to export more finished cement and less clinker, since finished cement earns more.

Tayeb Zitouni said Algeria should move from exporting clinker as a raw material to exporting cement.

African buyers prefer cement to clinker, and Africa remains a stated priority for the authorities.