The Egyptian government has requested cement plants take measures to halt price increases in the domestic market, including by limiting exports to no more than 30pc of total capacity.
Egypt's minister of industry and transport Kamel El-Wazir recently urged private and state-owned cement plants to limit exports and to restart nine cement production lines, in an effort to stabilise cement prices in the domestic market, according to market participants and state-controlled news agency Al-Ahram.
Cement prices for end users in the country hit a peak of 5,000 Egyptian pounds/t ($103/t) earlier this year, according to market participants. But efforts by the government to increase production, including cancelling long-standing production limits in July, have brought prices down to around E£4,000/t, a cement maker said.
All nine lines are expected to come back on line by the end of 2026.
Egypt's domestic cement demand has been on the rise because of ongoing government infrastructure projects and increasing residential and commercial construction. At the same time, the country's cement and clinker exports rose by about 11pc in the first half of this year. One state-owned plant has been exporting about 50-55pc of its supply each month, a second cement maker said.
But Egyptian cement and clinker producers typically face strong competition in the export market, as their cement prices are typically $2-$4/t more expensive than other regional suppliers because of higher costs. Some Egyptian cement plants had also relied on exports to increase US dollar availability because of a sharp depreciation of the Egyptian pound and a US dollar shortage that began in 2023. But availability of US dollars has recently increased in Egypt, allowing cement firms more flexibility to step back from exports, the first cement maker said. The Egyptian government was also said to be urging the use of waste fuels to replace imported fuels like coal and petroleum coke, but companies are not currently permitted to import alternative fuels, and there is not enough supply in the local market, the cement maker added.
