Groundbreaking in Ain Issa
The Ministry of Economy and Industry laid the foundation stone for a new cement plant in Ain Issa, in the northern countryside of Raqqa, in a ceremony attended by the Raqqa governorate. The project is being developed by Al-Hassan Holding Group, a private Syrian company, together with a Chinese partner.
Construction and the commissioning of the production lines are expected to take about two and a half years before the plant begins operating.
Capacity and Jobs
The plant is designed to produce more than 6,000 tons of cement per day. One planned production line is rated at around 5,000 tons of clinker daily, the semi-finished material that is ground into cement; the two figures describe different stages of output rather than the same measure. The facility is expected to employ about 800 workers once it reaches full operation.
The investment value of the Ain Issa plant was not disclosed, and its output is aimed at the domestic market.
Foreign Partners Return
The project reflects a wider effort to draw industrial partners from Turkey and China back into Syria's building-materials sector. In a separate agreement, the public cement company signed a build-operate-transfer contract worth about $200 million (USD) over 30 years with a Turkish firm to develop the Muslimiyah plant near Aleppo.
That contract covers a new production line rated at 5,000 tons of clinker per day and the rehabilitation of the existing plant, pointing to a return of private and foreign capital to the sector.
Rebuilding Local Supply
The Ain Issa plant is intended to meet demand for building materials in Raqqa and Hasakah, two neighboring governorates where reconstruction has raised the need for cement. Producing the material close to where it is used is expected to cut the transport costs that currently add to builders' expenses when cement has to be hauled in from plants in other parts of the country.
Taken together, the projects form part of a broader push to restart heavy industry and expand foreign economic cooperation as construction activity recovers.