Egypt to re-offer cement plant licence
Egypt will re-offer a licence to build a greenfield cement factory in Sohag in upper Egypt this week for the third time, the chairman of the Egypt’s Industrial Development Authority said on Monday.
"We will be receiving applications this week and for a month afterward," Amr Assal told Reuters in an interview, adding that companies which had already won licences or have cement factories in Egypt were not invited to apply.
The Sohag licence was offered twice before in late 2007. An initial offering in October failed to attract bidders and two applicants in a second offering in November, Egypt Sohag Cement and Sohag Cement, were disqualified on technical ground.
Another licence, in the New Valley in the Western Desert, was given for free last week to Alwady Cement Company, which is owned by Egyptian and Saudi investors.
Egypt granted 13 licences for greenfield cement operations and factory expansions in October, generating E£2.07bn ($374.2m) that the government said will be used to finance infrastructure in industrial zones. Published under Cement News
