PRESIDENT AT CEREMONY AND UNVEILING PLAQUE; MOTORCADE AND PRESIDENT LEAVES.




Initials TS/VS/PN/SS



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Background: THE MOST MODERN, AND ONE OF THE LARGEST, STEEL PLANTS IN AFRICA WAS FORMALLY INAUGURATED ON THURSDAY (19 JUNE) BY ALGERIAN PRESIDENT HOUARI BOUMEDIENNE AT EL HADJAR SIX MILES (10 KMS) FROM ANNABA IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY. THURSDAY'S CEREMONY WAS HELD AS PART OF THE CELEBRATIONS SURROUNDING THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BLOODLESS COUP WHICH BROUGHT PRESIDENT BOUMEDIENNE TO POWER ON JUNE 19, 1965.

PLANS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STEEL PLANT WERE ORIGINALLY DRAWN UP BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AS PART OF THE CONSTANTINE PLAN TO INDUSTRIALISE ALGERIA PREIOR TO INDEPENDENCE. WORK ON IT HAD ONLY JUST STARTED WHEN THE COUNTRY BECAME INDEPENDENT AND FOR SOME YEARS CONSTRUCTION WAS HELD UP. FRENCH AND SOVIET ENGINEERS AND TECHNICAL AID HAVE HELPED BRING THE PROJECT TO FRUITION.

THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PLANT, WHICH WAS INAUGURATED ON THURSDAY WITH THE SYMBOLIC LIGHTING OF THE FURNACE BY THE PRESIDENT AND THE UNVEILING OF A PLAQUE, WILL PRODUCE SOME 450-THOUSAND TONS OF CAST IRON ANNUALLY. WHEN THE SECOND BLAST FURNACE GOES INTO OPERATION NEXT YEAR, PRODUCTION WILL BE STEPPED UP TO 1,400,000 TONS A YEAR.

IT IS PLANNED THAT THE HOT-ROLLING MILL WILL BE IN OPERATION BY 1970-71, AND THE COLD-ROLLING MILL BY 1972.

THERE HAS BEEN A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF FOREIGN AID TO THE ALGERIANS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLANT. FRENCH ENGINEERS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BLAST FURNACE AND CAST IRON PRODUCTION; SOVIET ENGINEERS FOR THE STEEL WORKS EQUIPMENT; ITALIANS FOR THE ROLLING MILL, AND WEST GERMANY FOR THE STEEL PIPE PRODUCTION UNIT.

PRODUCTION WILL BE CONSIDERABLY IN EXCESS OF THE COUNTRY'S DOMESTIC DEMANDS, AND IT IS PLANNED THAT A GREAT PART OF THE PLANT'S OUTPUT SHOULD GO TO EXPORT. IT IS HOPED THAT THE PLANT WILL GIVE BIRTH TO A NUMBER OF LIGHT INDUSTRIES IN THE REGION.

APPEALS HAVE BEEN MADE THROUGH THE PRESS FOR ALGERIANS WORKING ABROAD IN THE STEEL TRADE TO RETURN TO ALGERIA AND WORK IN THE NEW PLANT, WHICH WILL EMPLOY SOME 5-THOUSAND PEOPLE.

THE COST OF THE PLANT -- FOR THE FIRST PHASE ALONE IT WAS 1,500-MILLION DINARS -- SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECOVERED IN BETWEEN FIVE AND 10 YEAR OFFICIALS OF THE ALGERIAN NATIONAL STEEL COMPANY ESTIMATE.