The Ministry of Trade and Industry will amend energy prices within days. The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises SMEs in the six industrial sectors listed in energy-intensive projects would be exempted from a $3-rise per MMBtu, Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohamed Rashid said. This decision has been taken after complaints from affected plants, particularly in the sector of chemicals. The new procedure is an attempt to redefine the energy-intensive industries, Rashid told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The Supreme Council of Energy has charged the committee of industry-related energy to prepare a study the consumption of six industrial sectors covered by the decision increasing energy prices by $3 per MMBtu and linked that rise to the number of workers in these factories.
The ministry was earlier depend on a "quantitative" standard to price energy for energy-intensive plants, which have been identified with a minimum of 66 MMBtu of gas and 50 GW of electricity. However, this led to a difference between plants that produce the same product. Therefore, this system has been amended in the recent decision relating to the six energy-intensive sectors.
When we applied the old system on the chemical industries for example, we discovered that 3,000 large, medium and small plants will be subject to price. This contravenes the "spirit" of decisions on re-pricing energy, which aimed large factories only and did not want to upload any burdens on small and medium-sized factories, Rashid said.
