Thursday, December 30, 2021

Largest steel factory in Iraq, Kurdistan Region is 75 percent complete: CEO

Once the factory is inaugurated, it can provide 2,000 jobs. 

The factory is also expected to produce 750,000 tons of steel each year, the CEO said.

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/12/09


ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – About 75 percent of Van Steel, the largest steel factory in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, has been completed.

The mega project was approved by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ninth cabinet in May and is expected to be inaugurated by next May.

Shwan Mohammad, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the project, told Kurdistan 24 that the factory will enhance the autonomous region’s infrastructure and will be “able to meet demands for construction materials in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”

Almost 95 percent of the 700 laborers working on the project are local. They have been working two shifts since the project began, according to Mohammad.

Once the factory is inaugurated, it can provide 2,000 jobs. The factory is also expected to produce 750,000 tons of steel each year, the CEO said.

In order to lessen the region’s dependency on the sale of oil for revenue, the KRG’s ninth cabinet has worked to diversify its sources of revenue through such industrial and agricultural projects.

In May, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani inaugurated a $100-million steel factory in Erbil province with an annual production capacity of 350,000 tons.

Hemin Hayne contributed to this report.

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