CRCC starts production at railway sleeper factory in Algeria

The contractor, which is owned by the Chinese state and was ranked the world’s third biggest in International Construction’s ICON 200 list, officially began operations at the new 91,000 square meter factory on Sunday.

Photo: Algeria Invest

CRCC said that the new plant would produce 1.2 million railway sleepers and its opening marked the start of track engineering on the mega rail project which is set to stretch from Tindouf to the province of Bechar.

When complete, the Western Algeria Railway Mining Line will carry iron ore from the Algerian iron ore mine of Gâra Djebilet to the national rail network connection at Tindouf.

The Western Algeria Railway Mining Line is a key part of China’s Belt and Road initiative in Algeria. As well as building a railway line to transport iron ore from Gâra Djebilet, Chinese companies will also be involved in mining the ore and refining it.

Algeria, which is Africa’s biggest country by geographic area, is thought to have around 3.5 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves at Gâra Djebilet, making it one of the largest iron ore deposits in the world. However, the country has been unable to ramp up production due to a lack of infrastructure.

In July 2023, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebbourne signed a package of 19 cooperation deals worth US$36 billion with Chinese President Xi Jinping which included the Western Algeria Railway Mining Line.

Currently China imports the majority of its iron ore from Australia and Brazil. The Chinese government is hoping that the initiative will help it to diversify its iron ore sources.

CRCC is constructing the line jointly with Algerian state-owned civil engineering company Cosider Traveaux Publics, with the Algerian National Railway Investment Design and Implementation Supervision Administration.