Egypt's Competition Authority (ECA) has approved a request by 23 cement makers to reduce production temporarily to help reduce a glut in output, setting a baseline cut at 10.69 percent, a document seen by Reuters reveals. The authority's decision, dated July 5, said there would be additional cuts of 2.81 percent for each production line and further cuts depending on the company's age. The quotas would bring into force on July 15 and be valid for one year, the document read. Egypt's cement production capacity has mounted in the past three years following the inauguration of a military-owned 13 million tonne-per-year plant in Beni Suef, even as local sales halved, according to cement executives. The cement sector is seen as an indicator of Egypt's openness to foreign investment, which it has struggled to attract, Reuters said. Foreign companies, including Germany's HeidelbergCement, France's Vicat, Switzerland's LafargeHolcim, Greece's Titan Cement, and Mexico's CEMEX, invested heavily in Egypt after a privatisation drive that was initiated in the 1990s. Local players started to set up their own plants later. Egypt-based executives had welcomed an earlier, draft proposal for cement production quotas, but two had informed Reuters that they thought the formula appeared to be unfair to foreign companies.
