CAIRO: GlassWorks, Ianua SPA and PPG Industries broke ground on a greenfield float-glass plant near Cairo to cater to export markets, the company announced in a press statement. "A greenfield float-glass plant now being built near Cairo will employ 2,000 workers in the construction phase and create 200 new jobs as it gears up to export high-quality specialty glass to Europe and North Africa when production begins in 2010, the firm said. The 210,000 square-meter state-of-the-art factory, which broke ground last month, will have the capacity to produce up to 220,000 tons of glass per annum. GlassWorks, a platform company created by Citadel Capital and a group of leading regional investors to pursue opportunities in the MENA glass industry, owns 51 percent of Sphinx Glass, which is building the plant in Sadat City. Dubai Capital Group, the regional investment-management arm of Dubai Group, holds 49 percent. "GlassWorks' LE 1.1 billion investment in the Sphinx Glass plant reflects our belief in Egypt's strong competitive advantage in the regional glass industry, says Hisham El-Khazindar, managing director and co-founder of Citadel Capital, the Cairo-based private equity firm. Citadel Capital controls investments worth more than $ 8.3 billion across 12 countries in sectors including glass, cement, mining, food and the complete oil and gas value change. The Sphinx Glass plant will produce clear, colored and reflective float glass in thicknesses ranging from 2mm to 19mm. Sphinx's output will primarily be for applications in the automotive and construction industries. The term "float glass refers to a process by which sheets of glass are created by floating molten glass on molten tin. "We aim to develop GlassWorks into the region's largest glass producer and exporter, El-Khazindar explains. "The construction of the Sphinx Glass greenfield plant in collaboration with global leaders PPG Industries and Ianua SPA in addition to the participation of Dubai Capital Group as our co-investors is an important milestone in that process. Tarek Salah, managing director for projects at Citadel Capital, said, "Construction will begin immediately and should be completed within 24 months. "We're very pleased to be starting construction at Sphinx Glass, says Mark Orcutt, vice president of performance glazings at PPG. "This partnership unites the financial expertise of Citadel Capital, the engineering, construction, and assembly sophistication of Ianua SPA and the world-class production technologies of PPG to develop an unparalleled glass production facility that will allow Egypt export to a wide variety of deficit markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
