Samawah had the largest cement factories in the Middle East during the 1970s, with a total production capacity of 2.85 million tonnes a year. These have since fallen into disrepair, exacerbating the unemployment situation, although the southern cement factory, the oldest, reopened in 2005. As of 2007, the four existing plants are producing a total of just 0.8 million tonnes a year due to the shortage of electricity. Five new cement factories with a capacity of 9 million tonnes a year are under construction on the outskirts of Samawah and will provide employment for several thousand skilled and unskilled workers as well as filling 45% of Iraq's total cement needs.