Arabian Cement plans expansion into Africa and Asia

Arabian Cement is planning to expand into regional markets in Africa and Asia to boost its profitability amid strong competition in the Egyptian market, according to reports in the Daily News Egypt.

To date the company, which has a output of around 5Mta, has exported to Libya, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia and Yemen.

Arabian Cement is a joint venture between Spain-based Grupo Cementos La Unión and a group of Egyptian investors.

The company recently reached an agreement with the National Bank of Egypt to reschedule a US$31m loan to be paid in 15 quarterly instalments of US$2m each, with a debt rate on foreign currencies of five per cent above the LIBOR margin. The instalments will be fully paid off by 1 July 2021.