Platts　2002/11/11

Egypt sets aside land for petchem development zones

Egypt has designated 32-mil square feet of real estate for petrochemical development zones, an official said Monday. "We have already secured 8,000 feddans, or 32-mil square meters, of land from the government," said Dr Sherif IA Ismail, executive deputy chairman, Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Co (Echem).
Newly established in January 2002 by Egypt's oil ministry, Echem is assigned the task of managing the country's nascent petrochemical industry. Land is available in economic free zones and at low cost, Ismail said. Adjacent to nearby export facilities, the land is designated solely for petrochemical initiates in El Beheira, Kafr El Sheikh, Dakahlia, Damietta, Ismailia and North West Gulf of Suez.

Egypt's petrochemical industry would have the advantage of being based on domestic natural gas reserves and enjoying low input costs. "Construction and operating cost is much less than regional competitors," Ismail said.

Egypt has proven natural gas reserves of 55-trillion cubic feet, which is available at cheaply with assured long-term supply, Ismail noted. Other guarantees and incentives include inexpensive land, ready infrastructure and utilities, tax incentives, customs duties exemptions, the right to full project ownership, and repatriation of profits. Through an agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co (EGAS) Echem will guarantee a long-term supply of feedstock at competitive prices to indigenous petrochemical initiatives, Ismail said.

Platts 2003/1/8

Egypt ethylene/polyethylene complex in the works

Plans for a $1.5-bil ethylene and polyethylene complex in Egypyt are progressing according to Dr Sherif I A Ismail, executive deputy chairman at the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (Echem).
A memorandum of understanding has been signed and a detailed feasibility study is underway. Echem will be an equity partner, said Ismail. The construction contract is expected to be awarded in 2004 and the plants are forecast to be operational in the last quarter of 2008.

Eighty percent of the plants' output is expected to be targeted for export. Once the complex is profitable, which Echem estimates will be three years after the start-up, Echem plans to divest its interests in petrochemical ventures by tapping the global capital markets. In this way Echem will generate funds to launch the next phase of petrochemical initiatives, said Ismail. Established in January 2002, Echem manages Egypt's petrochemicals industry.

2003/1/27 CHEMICAL WEEK NEWSWIRE

Egypt Plans $10-Billion Investment in Petchems

The government of Egypt has unveiled a $10-billion investment plan to develop the country's petrochemical sector into a world-scale industry by 2021. The plan is designed to fully exploit the potential of the country's 58.5-trillion cu ft of gas reserves, says oil minister Sameh Fahmy. It will also substitute the $3 billion/year of petchems that Egypt imports, Fahmy says. The government aims to launch 24 projects involving construction of 50 plants, most of which will be joint ventures with private-sector companies from Egypt and overseas. The aim is to establish a petchem industry with 15 million m.t./year of capacity, generating $7 billion/year of sales, of which $4 billion will be exports, he says. The first phase will involve $2.5 billion of investments between 2004-09, he adds.

2002/12/19 Egypt State Information Service　http://www.sis.gov.eg/online/html8/o191222j.htm

Petrochemicals industry activates Egyptian economy

Petrochemicals come on top of the strategic products upon which many complementary industries in various sectors depend.

Expanding the manufacturing of these products locally is essential to ensure stability in the Egyptian plants which suffer difficulties in getting petrochemical raw materials.

Petrochemical industries in Egypt have all potentials of success that contribute towards increasing economic revenue.

Within this framework, Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy has worked out in cooperation with a world consultancy house a national plan for enhancing the petrochemical industry in Egypt over the coming 20 years, with the aim of making the optimum use of available local potentials of natural gas reserves, realizing self-sufficiency in petrochemical products and exporting the surplus to world markets.

The national plan for petrochemicals depends on making the optimum use of natural gas and using it in a number of industries that magnify the added value, Fahmy said.

The new plan provides for setting up 14 complex units for petrochemicals at total investments of $ 10 billion over 20 years.

Those complex units, which will include 24 projects, are to produce 15 million tons of petrochemical products annually at a value of $ 7 billion that will fulfill the local market needs and realise an Equal revenue of $ 3 billion besides offering around 100,000 new direct and indirect jobs, the Minister added.

Along with implementing this ambitious plan, the Egyptian Holding Company for Petrochemicals will be set up to supervise a developed petrochemical industry in Egypt.

The company will also establish and possess projects, invest in standing and new Egyptian companies as well as promote for investment in the field of petrochemical industry.

An agreement was reached with Minster of Finance Medhat Hassanein by virtue of which the National Investment Bank (NIB) will participate for the first time in setting up new companies, the first for producing propylene at a production capacity of 350,000 tons annually, the other for producing alkyl benzene at a capacity of 80,000 tons yearly, the Minister said.

Investments of the two companies hit $ two billion, he added, noting that negotiations are under way with a world company for establishing the first giant complex for petrochemicals industry in Egypt at investments of well over $ 1.5 billion.

Meanwhile, preparations are under way for holding the first world conference on petrochemicals industry in Egypt next January, according to Fahmy.

2003/2/25　 Financial Times

EGYPT'S FIRST CONFERENCE ON PETROCHEMICALS INDUSTRY

Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy recently inaugurated the first conference on petrochemicals which reviewed a grand plan for the petrochemicals industry in Egypt and means to develop such a vital industry.

The Minister stressed that the importance of the two-day international conference, which was held for the first time in Egypt, is due to its prominent and pivotal role in this field. It is considered the most promising country in this industry due to the great gas finds recently discovered, Fahmy said.

Minister Fahmy said that the Ministry's strategy aims to establish a modern industry compatible with the oil and gas industries. The government is keen to provide all possible support to this strategic industry by encouraging Arab and foreign investments to establish joint projects, he said.

The conference was attended by a host of representatives of international oil companies, Egyptian, Arab and foreign experts from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).

The conference tackled the investment privileges in Egypt and the role of the private sector in developing this strategic industry.

Fahmy said that the new national plan for petrochemicals, which includes the establishment of 14 complexes, 24 projects and 50 units of production with investments of $10 billion in the next 20 years, will create 100,000 job opportunities for Egyptian youths. The aim is to produce 15 million tonnes of petrochemical products, worth $7 billion annually, $3 billion of which are export-oriented.

Currently, there are several projects which provide raw materials for petrochemical industries. Together with these projects are the Gases compound in the Western Desert, and the Mediterranean Gases Liquefying project.

Local natural gas reserves have reached 58 trillion cubic feet. These reserves provide the raw materials for establishing competitive petrochemical projects in Egypt, he added.

Feasibility studies are currently under way to establish a giant project with investments of $1.5 billion. Implementation of the project will start in four months.

The Minister said that two projects will be established to produce the propylene and the Alkyl benzyne. The National Investment Bank (NIB) agreed to participate in the first project, especially that its production is in high demand by most of the world countries and that there are important exporting opportunities for the two projects.

The Minister pointed to the fact that Egypt succeeded in meeting its needs of most of the petrochemical products and that these products started to reach most of the world markets especially the propane and the ethylene, considered great achievements.

Fahmy said that Egypt has various potentials for the establishment of a modern petrochemicals industry including the strategic situation worldwide, the tremendous infrastructure and the availability of well-trained technical expertise.

Egypt is well qualified to be among the leading world countries in the petrochemicals industry through its strategic geographical situation and its political stability, he said.

Jan. 15, 2007 Thyssenkrupp

Uhde to build major turnkey propylene/polypropylene complex in Egypt

Egyptian Propylene & Polypropylene Company (EPPC), under the lead of Oriental Weavers Group, has commissioned Uhde to build a turnkey petrochemical complex in Port Said, some 170 kilometres north-east of Cairo. The complex will consist of a propylene plant and a polypropylene plant with respective annual production capacities of 350,000 tonnes as well as all appurtenant utilities and offsites, including an air fractionation and refrigerating unit, and the required storage tanks.

The contract was signed in Cairo at the end of 2006, in the presence of the Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Ahmed Nazif and the Egyptian Minister for Petroleum, Sameh Fahmy, and includes the licence, basic and detail engineering, supply of equipment, construction, training of the operating personnel and commissioning. EPPC is investing some US$680 million in this new petrochemical complex. Completion is scheduled for late 2009. Propane from Egyptian natural gas deposits will be used as the feedstock.

"This is the first time that our proprietary STAR process(R) will be used for the commercial-scale production of propylene from propane. It thus marks the commercial breakthrough of our new propane dehydrogenation technology, and on top of this as part of a process chain with polypropylene as the end product - yet more proof of our high technological competence," said Klaus Schneiders, Chairman of the Executive Board, emphasising the importance of this new major contract.

Uhde's forward-looking STAR (STeam Active Reforming) process(R) for dehydrogenating light hydrocarbons, such as propane to propylene or butane to butylene, is based on conventional steam reforming technology and a downstream oxidation reactor (oxyreactor), both using a special dehydrogenation catalyst. Uhde has decades of experience in the field of steam reforming, having already installed more than 60 reformers based on proprietary technology. A similar type of oxyreactor has already been successfully used in over 40 ammonia plants built by Uhde. Uhde acquired the conventional STAR process from the US company Phillips Petroleum in 1999 and has since developed it further.

The polypropylene (PP) plant will be based on Basell’s Spheripol(R) process and will produce a wide range of high-quality PP plastic pellets. The Spheripol process is the world’s most widely used technology for the production of polypropylene, which has a wide range of market applications, including textiles, rigid and flexible packaging, consumer goods and automotive. EPPC will supply the PP to both the domestic and export markets.


Uhde is a company in the Technologies segment of the ThyssenKrupp Group and has a workforce of more than 4,500 employees worldwide.The company's activities focus on the engineering and construction of chemical and other industrial plants in the following fields: fertilisers, electrolysis, gas technologies, oil, coal and residue gasification, organic intermediates, polymers and synthetic fibres as well as coke plant and high-pressure technologies. We provide our customers with professional services and comprehensive solutions in all areas of industrial plant operation.