According to Al-Wafd newspaper (August 16, 2004), the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry reported that Egypt¹s cement production rose to 29,104,214t in 2003, up from 28,339,350t in the previous year. As a result, the local markets faced an excess cement supply of 3,380,955t in 2003 and an excess supply of 1,089,298 tons in 2002. The ministry estimates the cement production of the Egyptian companies to rise up to 36,550,000t by 2006.