Holcim (Maroc), a subsidiary of Switzerland's Holcim, has announced plans to build a new cement plant at Settat, 70 kilometres south of Casablanca. Work is also under way to build a new packaging and distribution terminal for Holcim at Oujda.

The greenfield Settat plant will have capacity of 1.7 million tonnes a year (t/y) and is due for completion in 2008. Total project costs are estimated at Eur 200 million ($259.3 million).

No schedule has yet been set for the tendering of consultancy and construction contracts.

Completion is scheduled for February 2005 for the Oujda terminal, which will process the output from the Settat plant. Sogea Marocis carrying out the main construction contract. The new facility will have unloading capacity of 200 tonnes an hour (t/h), a bulk loading line with capacity of 250 t/h and a silo with capacity of 12,000 tonnes. Holcim's existing cement capacity in the kingdom stands at about 2.6 million t/y, with production located at Oujda and Fes (MEED 20:12:02).