Egypt Plans to Double Exports to $37.4 Billion by 2013

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rashid M. Rashid, Egypt's Minister of Industry, announced the country's exporting plan for the next four years, by which Egypt plans to nearly double export value from $17.6 billion in 2009 to $37.4 billion in 2013. Egypt increased export value from $7.4 billion in 2005 to $17.59 billion in 2009.

Rashid said that fertilizers/chemicals, construction and wood/furniture will be the cornerstones in this plan, increasing export value from 2005 to 2009 as follows:

• Fertilizers/chemicals, from $1.3 billion to $3.3 billion
• Construction, from $240 million to $518 million
• Wood/furniture, from $111 million to $296 million

Rashid said that Egypt wants to increase exports from fertilizers to $7.59 billion in 2013. The local market consumed only 7 million to 8 million tons of fertilizers, but the total production is 14 million tons per year.

In December 2009, top Egyptian fertilizer company MISR Fertilizer Production Company (MOPCO) finalized a deal with four Egyptian banks to secure $1.05 billion in local financing to add two production trains to the company's nitrogen facility in Damietta, Egypt. This expansion will make MOPCO the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in Egypt and Middle East. If the two trains are constructed, as expected, toward the middle of 2012, the annual production of MOPCO will be 1.95 million tons of urea and 150,000 tons of ammonia, according to Agrium, which owns 26% equity interest in the existing MOPCO facility.

"To double exports in 2013, the main industries will invest $13 billion and will plan training programs for 600,000 employees to achieve high-quality products and secure a high level of international competition," Rashid said.

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