| Doumit Saadé, Project Manager at Holcim Morocco's Settat Plant |
Morocco is one of the growth markets of North Africa. In the country itself, the area around Casablanca is seeing the strongest growth in cement consumption. At the moment, Holcim Morocco supplies around one quarter of its production to that area. |
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"The packing station, developed
by a Moroccan team, will
comprise three fully automated
sack feeding facilities and two
automatic truck-filling facilities.
The use of state-of-the-art technology
goes without saying."
It was therefore an obvious move to opt for a planned capacity expansion there. The precise choice of location depended on the presence of existing infrastructure in the form of rail and road links. Naturally, the raw materials required for cement production also had to be available. Settat meets this requirement, with sufficient reserves for more than 80 years. |
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"The raw material is prepared
directly in the quarry. Clinker,
cement and dispatch facilities
form two further units. The
whole plant is tailor-made
for this site southeast of Casablanca."
Construction of the plant is now in full swing. A cement loading terminal has already begun operations and the facilities for preparing raw materials will be available in February 2007. When clinker production commences in mid- 2007, the plant, with a planned capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of cement, will be perfectly placed to serve the market of Casablanca. |
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"This cement plant will
greatly strengthen Holcim
Morocco’s market position
in Casablanca. Good transport
routes by ship and
rail and a well-developed
road network are major
advantages."
The plant is being constructed jointly by an international crew. From Holcim Group Support in Switzerland, the threads reach as far as China, where Holcim has for the first time engaged a main equipment supplier for the construction of a plant. On site, project manager Doumit Saadé, a Lebanese-born graduate of a US university, is responsible for the construction work. |
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