The Director General of the State Company for Iron and Steel (SCIS), Abbas Hayal, said that the government intends to sign a contract with a major Chinese company to build a steel plant in Iraq.

Hayal noted that massive constructions of buildings are currently taking place in Iraq, especially with the government’s tendency to build more than a million housing units, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

“In addition to steel plants currently operating in Iraq, the government is planning to set up new plants in several governorates,” Hayal told INA.

The Iraqi official clarified that a delegation headed by the Minister of Industry and Minerals, Khaled Battal, visited the headquarters of a Chinese company in China before negotiations took place with between the two sides.

Further discussions are scheduled to be held this week with the Chinese company, which was granted three square kilometers of land to set up a large industrial city.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, inaugurated earlier this month a rolling mill in the southern Iraqi governorate of Basra to produce metal bars and sheets.

The inauguration of the rolling mill took place during Al-Sudani’s visit to Basra to open industrial projects, including fertilizer factories.

The Iraqi Prime Minister commended the work that led to operating and renovating these industries, viewing them as a significant turning point in the government’s ‘Year of Achievements.’

The operation at the rolling mill, one of the factories of the SCIS, has been stopped since 2003.

During the past years, plans have been developed to carry out an integrated project to rehabilitate the iron and steel factories.