ArcelorMittal is going to sell 21% of the shares of the Algerian block

The State Information Agency of Algeria reported, quoting the Prime Minister, who stated that the steel giant Arcelormittal sells 21 percent of the shares of his division of Algerian Unit at the nominal price of the Algerian state, which allows the North African country to become a majority shareholder.

There are speculations on the topic that a government plan is being developed to control the activities of the El Hadjar plant in the eastern city of Annaba. The maintenance of such negotiations was first confirmed by a government official. The Prime Minister of Algeria Abdddddddelmalek Sellal said that the government will soon receive the entire 51 percent of the shares of the enterprise at a “symbolic” price, in accordance with the report of the official information agency APS. Nevertheless, no details about the price of the transaction were provided, and the officials of the company Arcelormittal Algerian Unit did not comment on this situation.

Earlier, ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, bought 70 percent of the shares of the plant in 2001, which was fully owned by the state. As a result, the Sider State Algerian Steel Company has retained the remaining 30 percent. The plant has suffered greatly in recent months from a series of strikes caused by the requirement to increase wages. In 2012, 580 thousand tons of flat and variety rental were produced. The government plans to increase production of products to 2.2 million tons per year.