Ivorian bitumen demand, production to surge:Smb

Projects to repair Ivory Coast's roads after years of crisis and neglect will spur a surge in demand for bitumen, sole local producer Smb said, adding that it planned to launch a $21.6 million bond through West African banks in the CFA franc zone to boost capacity.

Smb is the sole producer of bitumen for roads in West and Central Africa.

"We're going to launch a bond of 10 billion CFA francs ...in the next three months," director general Thomas Camara told Reuters in an interview.

He later clarified that it would not be sold on West Africa's BRVM stock exchange but through banks operating in West Africa's CFA currency zone.

"The aim is to meet Ivorian demand, but also demand in the sub-region."

Ivory Coast is emerging from a decade of political crisis and stalemate, which culminated in a return to civil war this year over an election dispute between former president Laurent Gbagbo and current President Alassane Ouattara. 

The crisis deterred investment and created an institutional paralysis that meant little was done to repair infrastructure.

Ouattara has made restoring services his top priority, and projects are underway to upgrade power stations, repair roads, expand the SIR oil refinery and increase oil exploration and boost production offshore.

Camara said that of the 250,000 tonnes of bitumen produced every year in the past decade, only 10,000 tonnes or 5 percent per year was sold in Ivory Coast, despite it being one the region's biggest economies.

In 2011 he expected that to "increase to 25,000 tonnes and to some 30,000 tonnes" next year, with the country making up "20 to 30 percent of its market in the years to come."

With expanding demand elsewhere in West Africa, he said Smb would need to invest at least 20 billion to 30 billion CFA francs in its bitumen refinery in the next few years.

"We're expecting that by 2014 that investment will be complete and we'll be producing between 350,000 and 400,000 tonnes a year," Camara said.  Reuters.