CAIRO – 14 November 2024: Port Said for Engineering Works, a subsidiary of the Suez Canal Authority, is set to build an $80 million aluminum foil factory in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) in partnership with an undisclosed Chinese investor, according to Al Borsa.
Feasibility studies were recently approved, paving the way for construction to start in the first quarter of 2025.
The factory’s initial production capacity will be 60,000 tons per year, with a planned increase to 100,000 tons by the end of its first operational year.
The new factory aims to address Egypt’s growing aluminum foil demand, valued at $120 million to $140 million annually, according to the Industry Ministry.
This translates to approximately 46.7 million tons of foil each year, according to Sherif Abdel Moneim from the Cairo Chamber of Commerce’s home appliances division.
Egypt, once a pioneer in aluminum foil production, now has no active foil factories due to financial challenges and rising costs of materials and energy, as noted by Mohamed El Mohandes, head of the Chamber of Engineering Industries.
This gap in production has led to a dependency on imported foil, primarily from China. Between 2014 and 2023, aluminum foil imports cost Egypt $512 million, an expense the government hopes to reduce by boosting domestic production.
Additionally, Egypt Aluminium has announced a separate $100 million project for a foil production line with a 50,000-ton capacity per year, potentially supported by German technology provider Achenbach, further enhancing local production capabilities in the sector.
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