A government official has stated that Carbon Holdings is in negotiations with the UAE government over a possible $400m Emirati investment in the Tahrir Petrochemical Complex project. The official, who preferred not to be named, said that – if the negotiations are successful – the Emirati government may also give its shares to the Egyptian government, represented by Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM). The official said that investments in the Tahrir Petrochemical Complex are estimated to total around $6.8bn and that 65% of project funding will be obtained through banks, while 35% will be self-funded or from foreign-government funds, including the potential UAE contribution. Carbon Holdings hopes to begin construction on the Tahrir Petrochemical Complex by the start of 2015. Construction is expected to take 45 months. According to a previous statement made by Basil El-Baz, Cabon Holdings' Chairman and Managing Director, the complex will produce 1.35m tonnes of polyethylene, 960m tonnes of polypropylene, around 400m tonnes of petrol, and 215m tonnes of butadiene. The project is expected to create around 20,000 job opportunities during the construction phase.
