By N Saeed
Egypt intends to invite investors for iron projects with a combined annual production capacity of around 2.8 million tonnes within a strategy to reduce imports.
The industry ministry has finalised licenses for such projects and will soon announce them for investors from Egypt and other countries.
“The ministry is preparing to issue new licenses for iron production with a capacity of 2.8 million tonnes…we will also announce new industrial cities,” industry minister Khalid Hashim told a local press conference in Cairo on Wednesday.
Hashim said the plants, to be based in industrial zones in Egypt, support a plan to expand iron ore and billet production to cut imports and face growing domestic demand.
“We are working to maximise the production of billets…this will contribute to deepening the local manufacturing sector, reducing reliance on imports, and meeting the growing needs of the local market,” he said.
He noted that the expansion in billet production coincides with the ministry’s recent decision to impose temporary tariffs on iron imports to boost the competitiveness of local products and encourage investment in the metal industries sector.
Egypt, the third largest Arab economy, has been locked in a drive to develop its industries and other sectors to spur growth and slash trade and fiscal deficits.
Planning and economic development minister Ahmed Rostom said in May that the government is banking on strong performance in five key sectors including manufacturing to achieve GDP growth of more than five percent in its next fiscal year.
(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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