ANCC Egyptian plant to begin production in April 2013

The Arab National Cement Company’s (ANCC) 2Mta cement plant in Minya will start full production in April 2013.

The cold run phase of the state-of-the-art greenfield project is now in progress, officials revealed as they welcomed the new Minya governor Dr Moustafa Kamel Eissa to the factory.

“I was impressed with the progress I saw,” said Eissa. “In addition to providing much-needed employment opportunities, the high-quality Portland grey cement ANCC will produce will capitalize on the abundance of limestone in our governorate. What’s more, by choosing to build and create jobs in Minya, ANCC has positioned itself to serve high-demand markets across Upper Egypt.”

“We are delighted to have hosted Dr. Kamel,” said ASEC Holding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Giorgio Bodo, who noted that the project will also adhere to the highest global environmental standards. “With the cold run phase of the project now in progress, we are on track to start full production in April of 2013."

ANCC is backed by a US$200m syndicated loan from a consortium of local, regional and international banks led by the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) as the mandated lead arranger and underwriter of the facility, which is split into in two tranches. Participating banks include Banque du Caire, United Bank, National Bank of Greece, Bank of Alexandria, Bank Audi and Faisal Islamic Bank.

ASEC Cement, a leading regional cement group, is the largest shareholder in ANCC with a 45% stake in the project. Other shareholders in ANCC include Misr Qena Cement (13.9%), Safari Investments (30.7%), IFU/FLS (9.2%) and other shareholders (1.1%).