Egyptian Steel's sister company Egyptian Cement, owned by tycoon Ahmed Abou Hashima, is planning to build the biggest complex for building materials industries in the Upper Egypt region. The complex will be in Sohag, about 471km (292.6 miles) south of Cairo, with total investments estimated at 6 billion Egyptian pounds approximately ($332.4 million), the company said in a statement on Sunday. Egyptian Cement will start works on its new complex by building a cement plant, in a step aimed to make a "leap" in investment levels in the Upper Egypt region. Abou Hashima, founder and chief executive of Egyptian Cement, has signed earlier Sunday the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with Chen Tao, Vice President of China's state-run Sinoma CDI. According to the contract, Sinoma CDI will construct a 6,000 tonne per day clinker production line for Egyptian Cement's plant, covering design, equipment procurement and supply, civil works, installation, commissioning, and testing of the whole clinker production line. Egyptian Cement said it hopes construction and installation works for the new plant to complete at the end of 2018. Sinoma CDI is one of the world famous EPC contractors for cement engineering and construction.
