Houari Tigharsi: China Baowu Partnership Could Turn Algeria’s Iron Resources into an Integrated Industrial Base
The economist tells Elayem News that technology transfer, local-content development and green-steel production will be critical to turning Algeria’s mineral wealth into higher-value manufacturing and exports
By Dr. Hana Saada
ALGIERS — Algeria’s partnership prospects with Chinese steelmaker China Baowu could extend well beyond steel production, creating a broader industrial chain based on the country’s iron resources, economist Houari Tigharsi told Elayem News.
Tigharsi was commenting after State Minister and Minister of Hydrocarbons Mohamed Arkab received a delegation from Baowu, one of the world’s largest steel producers, to discuss industrial and investment cooperation in Algeria, including low-carbon and green steel.
He said the partnership could help Algeria move from the processing of raw materials towards higher-value manufacturing, particularly by leveraging the Gara Djebilet iron deposit. The potential value chain could run from ore processing and beneficiation to direct reduction, steelmaking and the production of flat and long steel products and components for mechanical and construction industries.
For Tigharsi, however, the success of such a partnership should depend on technology transfer, skills development and increasing local integration. Cooperation with Baowu should include training Algerian engineers and technicians, developing domestic suppliers, manufacturing equipment and spare parts locally, establishing research and development capabilities and integrating Algerian companies into the supply chain.
That would allow the project to become more than a foreign investment in steel production, he said, turning international expertise into lasting domestic industrial capabilities.
Tigharsi also sees an opportunity in green steel, as the global industry shifts towards lower-emission production technologies, including direct reduction, hydrogen and renewable energy. Algeria’s combination of iron resources, energy availability and renewable-energy potential could provide a foundation for developing lower-carbon steel production and eventually strengthening the country’s position in European, African and other export markets.
The economist said the wider industrial strategy should connect iron extraction and processing projects in southern Algeria with rail infrastructure and steel and downstream manufacturing facilities in the north. Such integration could create a chain extending from iron ore to steel, manufactured products and exports, while supporting industries ranging from automotive components and railways to pipes, construction, mechanical equipment, energy, agriculture and mining.
Tigharsi argued that the partnership should ultimately be assessed not simply by the volume of steel produced, but by the value added retained in Algeria, the number of domestic companies integrated into the supply chain, the skills transferred to Algerian workers and the new industrial products that can reach export markets.
If those conditions are met, he said, cooperation with Baowu could help Algeria transform its iron resources into a platform for green steel, downstream manufacturing, technology development, jobs and non-hydrocarbon exports.
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