Military Production Ministry to establish chemicals company

CAIRO – 9 January 2018: The Ministry of Military Production will establish a shareholding company to work in the petrochemicals sector under the name of Heliopolis Sharaf Chemicals, Minister of Military Production Mohamed el-Assar announced Tuesday.

"The company will work on producing and marketing explosives and amplifiers, to be consumed as per the international standards," Assar added in a statement.

Assar noted that the new company will meet the needs of the armed forces, national projects and mining companies.

Egypt's chemical sector is considered to be one of the strategic sectors as it adds value to the mineral resources of the country.

Egypt’s chemical exports increased by 37 percent to reach $1.7 billion in the first five months of 2017 compared to $1.2 billion year-on-year, according to a report released by the Chemicals & Fertilizers Export Council (CEC).

Plastic and rubber exports rose by 19 percent to reach $545 million by the end of May compared to $460 million in the same period of the previous year.

In the same five months, fertilizers and paper products’ exports hiked 67 percent and 13 percent to reach $246 million and $214 million respectively.

Organic chemicals exports surged 362 percent to $151 million, while non-organic chemicals inched up 6 percent to $103 million.

The chemicals sector as a whole is said to account for 3 percent of GDP and 12 percent of the industrial sector's volume, according to official figures.

By 2020, Egypt plans to produce more than three million tons of chemical products, under a 20-year national plan, which involves a range of products from ethylene and polyethylene to olefins and aromatics.