Knauf, a global, family-owned company based in Germany, has opened Tuesday a new gypsum board factory in Egypt's Suez with investments of €45 million (US$50 million). Egyptian Minister of Industry and Trade Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour has inaugurated Knauf's Suez plant in the presence of Hansjörg Haber – Germany's Ambassador to Egypt. Minister Abdel Nour said the plant is with annual production capacity of 15 million square metres of gypsum, 90,000 tonnes of gypsum products and 25 million metres of metal cutters. 50% of Knauf plant's products will be exported to a number of neighbouring Arab and African markets, he noted. This is the first plant of its kind in Egypt, in which the latest German machines and equipment were used during the building and equipping process to ensure that the production process is in line with German quality standards, the minister said. Furthermore, Knauf's plant is expected to register within the current year a volume of sales worth 130 million Egyptian pounds (US$17 million), he added. "Suez has been selected as the location for establishing the factory, because of its strategic location between raw materials sites, local markets and main export markets," an earlier statement from the company was quoted as saying. Knauf is well known for drywall gypsum boards, originally founded in 1932. It is also specialised in acoustic insulating materials, dry lining systems, plasters, multiple thermal insulation systems, paints and construction tools and equipment.
