Head of the Cement Manufacturers Division in the Building Materials Chamber: Cement prices have nothing to do with the volume of production

Karim: The cement industry in Egypt has been affected by the Russian crisis and the rise in energy and cardboard prices

The Cement Division of the Chamber of Building Materials Industries of the Federation of Egyptian Industries denied rumors about the relationship of production volume in the local market to cement prices, which witnessed successive increases in the past months.

Ahmed Shereen Karim, head of the Chamber’s Cement Manufacturers Division, confirmed that what happened in recent months, which led to a rise in cement prices, was caused by the rise in international energy prices, as well as the Russian crisis and shipping prices, and it has no income or relationship to the volume of production in the local market.

He explained, that the cement industry is one of the energy-intensive industries, as it is based mainly on burning raw materials inside special kilns to produce cement, and thus an industry closely related to energy and energy prices globally, as it represents the cost of energy from 50% to me 60 % of the final product cost, noting that all cement factories in Egypt depend on three types of energy: coal, diesel, and natural gas, all of which are linked to international prices and have international stock exchanges, especially in recent years.

He pointed out, that as a result of changes in the production of natural gas in Egypt and the rise in international oil prices, the Egyptian state decided to allow cement factories to use coal as the main fuel for production under the strict supervision of the Ministry of Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency, a fuel that is imported by % except for some few tons of petroleum coke that are produced inside Egypt.

The head of the cement division explained that coal prices witnessed increases in the last quarter of the year from about dollars per ton to 50 dollars in addition to the first and third quarters of the year 400, bringing coal to about 400 dollars per ton, adding that prices also rose in the first quarter of this year with the beginning of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine to reach about 400 dollars per ton, which are international prices

Karim added, just as the cement industry does not depend on the local component with a percentage of 400%, as traders say, unlike energy, cement sacks are used in this national industry. Made of cardboard, which is imported by 400 % and is also affected by the agricultural seasons in Europe and by the rise in shipping prices in case of international and other crises, as well as spare parts for lines Production that is imported from outside the country.

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