Russian Company to Invest in Two Steel Projects in Egypt

Russian engineering company, Metprom Group has recently announced its intention to set up two steel projects in Egypt with the total investment of Euro 210 million (USD 239 million), according to Amr Nassar, a minister of Trade and Industry, Egypt.

The minister said in an interview that the company's first project aims to establish a rolling mill for the production of rebar and wire rod in the Russian industrial zone in Egypt, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes annually and estimated investments in this project are Euro 60 million.

The second project aims to rehabilitate the iron and steel complex in Helwan city, Egypt in five stages that will include carrying out renovations of the complex which will increase its billet production capacity to 500,000 tonnes annually. The estimated investments in the same are Euro 150 million.

Nassar confirmed that the Egyptian government is quite keen to develop the iron and steel industry as one of the strategic industries of the national economy. This is because there are many promising opportunities to boost the iron and steel industry in Egypt due to the access to African markets, amid various bilateral and regional agreements signed with a large number of the African countries. Nassar also referred to the opportunities to access the markets of Libya, Syria, and Iraq to participate in reconstruction projects.

The minister clarified that the national projects implemented by the government contribute to enhancing the construction projects generally and projects of iron and steel in particular.

The chairman of the Russian Group Metprom, Stel Lomachenko, pointed out his group's eagerness to expand in the Egyptian market in the light of the current investment climate and huge investment opportunities, especially in the Suez Canal economic zone and the Russian Zone in particular.

He pointed out that the company works in the fields of industrial projects, technical investments, services, engineering studies, design, and supply of basic equipment, machinery and construction services. Founded in 1992, Metprom Group is one of the major engineering companies in the metallurgical sector and has 15 subsidiaries. The company has undertook 50 turnkey projects out of which 25 projects were undertaken in Russia, while other projects are in Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Iran Cuba, India and China.