Egypt’s cement industry still growing strong

The Egyptian cement industry has remained strong throughout the global financial downturn. Whilst other countries in the MENA region are threatened by over capacity, exports from Egypt have been banned since April 2009 and the ban will continue until at least October 2010. Imports, meanwhile, are still going strong, with some 1 million t imported in August alone.

Expansion projects

In the July issue of World Cement, the World Review shows a number of ongoing expansion projects in the country, as the existing suppliers try to keep up with demand. Titan’s Beni Suef plant is upgrading its line one and implementing a second line with 1.5 million tpa capacity. Meanwhile the South Valley Cement Company has also added a second production line at its Beni Suef plant. National Cement Company has ordered a new mill for the El Nahda plant and the Government of Egypt Cement Co. has placed orders for two 5000 tpd production lines.

New licenses

While existing producers do their best to cope with what has been described as a ‘housing boom’ in the country, and the additional capacity this necessitates, last month the Egyptian Trade Minister announced that five or six new cement production licenses would be granted. This shows continuing faith in the domestic industry, and high hopes for the future. According to reports, cement demand has grown at 25 – 30% this year, far beyond the 10% growth that was anticipated.

Future prospects

The government announced a stimulus package of LE15 billion in FY08/09 to deal with declining revenues from tourism and foreign investment. Recently, an additional stimulus package of LE10 billion has been proposed, of which a reported LE9 billion will be used for infrastructure development – more good news for the cement industry.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/05112009/egypt%E2%80%99s-cement-industry-still-growing-strong/