EGYPT - Oriental Petrochemicals Co.

Formed in early 1996, OPC has Egypt's first polypropylene (PP) plant in a new 10m sq metre free industrial zone developed by the private sector just south of Suez city. The 180,000 t/y plant, built by Toyo Engineering, went on stream in June 2001. It uses Union Carbide's Unipol process. It made OPC Egypt's second private exporter of petrochemicals on Sept. 18, 2001 as its first PP cargo left the port of Suez. The shipment, witnessed by Petroleum Minister Fahmi, consisted of 1,700 tons worth $880,000. It was bound for Belgium, Greece, Spain, Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria and Dubai. Initially, OPC planned to export 25% of its output. Because local demand was high with Egypt consuming 220,000 t/y of PP, it decided to cut this to 10%. As demand for PP is rising by 8-10% per annum due to fast expansion of the carpets, synthetic textiles and electric cables industries, OPC is to double the plant's capacity in an $80m project. OPC imports the propylene feedstock. Imports will end when OPC's 350,000 t/y propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant comes on stream as a JV with Echem and National Investment Bank (NIB).

Textile magnate Mohammed Faris Khamis is the man behind OPC. The main OPC shareholders are Khamis' Oriental Weavers Group and Misr American Carpet Mills. ENPPI holds 20%. Other partners include the Arab Int'l Investment Co., an Egypt-based entity owned largely by Libyan interests.

Originally, the OPC plant was to be built in Alexandria near EPC's Ameriya complex. But as Khamis was one of the main partners in the private industrial zone south of Suez and because this provided better tax breaks, OPC shifted away from Alexandria. The Alexandria free zone does provide tax breaks. But newer zones in remote under-developed areas, such as the one being developed south of Suez city, get better tax breaks. This is why big private Egyptian, Arab and foreign investors now are interested in building new free industrial zones in Egypt as well as having new gas-based industries in such zones, because Gasco is committed to build pipelines and provide gas to all these areas.

Oriental Weavers Group (OWG), Egypt's leading carpet producer headed by Khamis, is to have a polyester plant alongside the PP facility at the Suez zone. In the first phase, to be completed by March 2005, the plant will have a 450 t/d capacity to produce partially oriented yarn, polyester staple fibre, filament and chips - mostly to be sold locally. It will either import its main feedstock, PTA, or buy it locally if by then EPC's PTA plant has started up. OWG will import the mono-ethylene glycol feedstock from abroad.

The Egyptian Arab Trading Co. (Eatco) is to have Egypt's first methanol-to-olefins (MTO) complex built at the Damietta free industrial zone to produce methanol and 400,000 t/y of polyolefins: LLDPE, HDPE, propylene and PP. The $1.4 bn complex should start up in 2006. It will use methane feedstock for methanol. The MTO process to be used has been developed jointly by UOP and Norsk Hydro. The Kvaerner Reforming/ICI low-pressure methanol process and Union Carbide's Unipol process may also be used. A detailed feasibility study for the project was completed in early 2000 by UOP and the US arm of Kvaerner Process, with the US Trade Development Agency having provided a $750,000 grant to cover part of the $2m costs of the technical and financial studies. BankAmerica completed a financial study in the first quarter of 2000. The leader in this venture, called Eatco Petrochemical Co. (EPC), is the Cairo-based business tycoon Yahya A. El Komi, close to President Mubarak. Eatco is a partner of Union Finosa in the Spanish utility's LNG venture at Damietta (see OMT).

The Saudi TAAS Group Int'l is to have a 1.4m t/y integrated complex. Feedstocks for the cracker are to be 70% ethane and 30% naphtha to produce 530,000 t/y of ethylene and a range of polyolefins. The first phase will cost about $900m (see background in Vol 58, DT No. 3.

Echem is promoting a $1.5 bn, 1m t/y olefins complex to involve Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. as a partner, under an MoU signed in 2003; a $585m plant to produce 1.75m t/y of methanol; and a $400m plant to produce 300,000 t/y of styrene and 200,000 t/y of polystyrene.

The Saudi Egyptian Petrochemical Co. (Sepco) has a 252,000 t/y polyester plant in Alexandria producing partially oriented yarn, textile chips (used for clothing, home textiles, carpets and various industrial applications), and staple fibres (to blend with cotton & wool), and polyester resin (PET - used for bottled water and soft drink or edible oil packaging) for the local market and export. It started up in 2003 and was built by Zimmer under a $300m EPC contract signed in late 2001. The main partners in Sepco are the Jeddah-based business tycoon Ahmad Badeeb, who heads the Jehan Group, and Midroc which is part of the Saudi-based Al Amoudi Group. Swedish-based Midroc Engineering worked with Zimmer on the plant.

The $196m, 80,000 t/y LAB plant to be built in Alexandria for the local detergents industry will be owned and run by a company formed in late 2003 by Echem. The main shareholders are Port Said, Echem, EGPC, National Investment Bank and Commercial International Bank. UOP will provide the technology. Alexandria National Refining & Petrochemicals Co. will supply the kerosene and benzene feedstocks. Port Said Detergent and Chemical Industries and the German chemical distributor Helm will take the plant's output.

Alexandria Acrylic Fibre Co. is having a $70m, 18,000 t/y plant built at Ameriya to be on stream in late 2005. The shareholders are OAPEC's Dammam-based Apicorp (10%), Saudi Egyptian Industrial Investments Co. (10%), Aditya Birla Group of India (55%), Sidi Krier Petrochemical Co. (20%) and Alexandria Carbon Black Co. (5%).