Egypt doubles value of cement exports in 9M17

Egypt’s cement exports rose 88 per cent during the first nine months of 2017, reaching around US$72m compared to US$38m last year, its building industries export council said on Sunday.

Ten countries have captured 89.3 per cent of the Egyptian cement exports, which Saudi Arabia came on the top of the list, the report said. Exports to Saudi Arabia reached 11.186 million compared to US$15.483m last year.

Exports to the Kenyan market have soared 1127 per cent to record US$9.385m in nine months compared to US$765,000 last year.

During the January-September period, exports to Libya jumped 221 per cent to US$12.53m, while to shipments to Russia fell to US$1.737m. Egypt exports cement to around 55 countries worldwide, of which 21 markets are new customers since the beginning of this year, including Turkey, France, Belgium, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Ukraine, Somalia, Kuwait, Eritrea, Bulgaria, Peru, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Bahrain, according to the council’s monthly report.

The report also showed that Egypt had not exported cement to seven countries this year: Qatar, Benin, Philippines, Guatemala, Argentina, Guinea, and Thailand. Exports to these countries stood at US$676,000 during the first nine months of 2016, the report added.