Cleia in North Africa

New SBMT2 brickworks for the Tedjini Group in Algeria

»1 Noredine Tedjini during the start-up of the plant

»2 New 1 200 x 1 200 mm packs stacked on the kiln cars

»3 The first Cleia subsidiary in Tunisia: Al Baraka CIE

Cleia has commissioned the new SBMT2 brick plant built for the Tedjini Group in Touggourt in summer 2012, just 14 months after the signing of the contract. This new unit dedicated to the production of hollow and hourdis bricks is equipped with a Sirocco rapid dryer with an innovative automatic chain tensioning device that makes maintenance easier and increases the reliability of the drive system. As for the firing process, the Technofast kiln – made of 100% of refractory components – meets all the specific requirements for firing the corrosive clays extracted in this area. And only months after its start-up, the kiln has already achieved 150% of its nominal capacity. This technology combining a sealed kiln with a suspended sealing is the very first of its kind to be installed by Cleia in Algeria, and brings extremely satisfactory performance. The kiln cars, also made of refractory components, complete the firing system developed by Cleia. It is undisputed that Cleia‘s most notable innovation is the new 1 200 x 1 200 pack stacking on the kiln cars. The fired packs are strapped without any pallet and can be easily loaded onto the delivery trucks.

Cleia’s subsidiary Al Baraka CIE founded in Tunisia

On a market undergoing tremendous changes, Cleia is building up a long-term presence in the Maghreb by establishing its first subsidiary: Al Baraka CIE. This decision in favour of Tunisia comes against the background of fulfilling a contract for building one of the largest brickworks in Southern Tunisia.

Al Baraka CIE has two main shareholders: Cleia, initiator of the project and majority shareholder, and Al Baraka, the former workshop for the manufacture of dies, ducts and mechanically welded sub-sets. Its core activity consists of manufacturing part of the equipment designed by Cleia for the North African market. The company has the resources required to manufacture mechanically welded sub-sets, electric cabinets, and also to provide assembly and wiring services. Al Baraka CIE is located near Sousse, in an industrial area in the immediate proximity of a port and an airport. In addition, it is in the vicinity of several local brick plants, but also the tourist area. The location therefore offers a valuable commercial advantage.

This company is the bridgehead for Cleia’s development in Tunisia and Libya. The necessary skills will be progressively developed to ensure the realization and the start-up of plants. It will specialize in upgradable bricks plants adapted to this market. Another important task is customer support in these markets. The approach is guided by one goal: upgrading the technological standard and ensuring the progress of the local industrial enterprises to build high-end plants while ensuring after-sales and maintenance locally. Therefore Cleia has chosen to establish its subsidiary in Tunisia, in an area with a highly-skilled workforce. Another goal is to supply technology from this base to the North African market at competitive prices.