Egypt's Suez Cement said on Tuesday it would shut down 14 production lines as part of an agreement with the government to relocate out of the capital to reduce pollution. Suez Cement, Egypt's largest listed cement company and a unit of Italcementi, has agreed to shut 13 wet lines at its Helwan Cement and Torah Cement subsidiaries and a 1.1 million ton-per-year dry line for clinker at Torah. In return, Suez will open a new line with an annual capacity of 2 million tons of clinker at its plant 30 kilometers east of Cairo, it said. The new $400 million line will help Suez increase its cement production by 900,000 tons. The firm said in March it planned to spend more than LE 3 billion ($517 million) to relocate 2.5 million tons of Torah's capacity to a new, energy-efficient site to adhere to environmental regulations.
