Shareholder agreement signed to establish Misr Methanol and Petrochemical Company

CAIRO – 25 August 2021: Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, witnessed the signing of a shareholders’ agreement to establish the Misr Methanol and Petrochemicals Company to produce methanol, ammonia, petrochemicals and others between Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries Company, Helwan Fertilizers Company and Al Ahly Capital Holding Company.

The project aims to meet the local market’s needs of methanol and its derivatives and export the surplus abroad. The new company’s ownership structure is divided between Abu Qir Fertilizers Company and Helwan Fertilizers Company with 35percent each, and Al-Ahly Capital Holding Company, the investment arm of the National Bank of Egypt by 30percent, according to the Petroleum Ministry’s statement on Wednesday.

The signing came in the presence of Yahya Zaki, head of the General Authority for the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal, Abed Ezz El-Regal, and CEO of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, and Hisham Okasha, head of the National Bank of Egypt.

The agreement was signed by Saad Abo El Maaty, President of Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries Company, Hassan Abdel Alim, President of Helwan Fertilizers Company, and Karim Saadeh, Managing Director of Al Ahly Capital Holding Company.

The investment cost of the first phase of the project is about $1.6 billion, with a production capacity of one million tons of methanol and 400,000 tons of ammonia annually. It is planned to establish the project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Ain Sokhna, which gives the project a competitive advantage due to the many economic advantages granted by the General Authority for the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal to encourage and attract investments.

Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said that the vital project is a new addition to the Egyptian petrochemical industry, which is constantly working to maximize the added value of Egypt's natural wealth in light of the progress that Egypt has achieved under the auspices of the political leadership in the field of energy and petrochemicals and natural gas discoveries, which have had a strong impact on the economic and service sectors.

The minister affirmed the fruitful cooperation between the ministry, the Suez Canal Economic Authority and the National Bank, which consistently yields distinguished results that serve the national economy and achieve the goals of the Economic Authority from the investment opportunities available in it.

The shareholders explained that this project was carefully studied, especially in light of the exceptional circumstances that the whole world is experiencing as a result of the spread of coronavirus, as the preparation of the economic and marketing feasibility study for the project was assigned to one of the largest houses of expertise in this field, and the results of the study confirmed the feasibility study of the project from an economic and marketing point of view.

Saad Abu Al-Maati indicated that the project, which is being built in two phases, obtained the necessary approvals, whether in terms of allocating the land or providing the necessary quantities of natural gas, praising the support received by petrochemical projects from the state, and the continuous support from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for the various projects of Abu Qir Fertilizer Company and its fruitful partnership with the petroleum sector.