CAIRO - Egypt opened bidding for two cement production licences on Monday but will not allow existing cement firms in Egypt to bid in an effort to boost competition and bring down prices, the industrial authority said. Egypt's construction industry has grown even as it stalled elsewhere in the region due to the global economic downturn. Cement demand rose 25 per cent last year, driven largely by housing needs of a growing population and a cash-fuelled economy. The two licences will replace ones that had been held by El Wadi Cement and North Sinai Cement but which were cancelled late last year over start-up delays and financing shortfalls. Both firms were granted their licences in 2007. "Companies that were given licences in 2007 or are currently producing cement will not be allowed to enter the game for these two licences," Amr Assal, the head of the Industrial Development Authority, told Reuters. "We want new competitors." The licences will be for projects in North Sinai east of Cairo and El Wadi to the southwest. The authority earlier said the two firms which lost licences might be allowed to submit a new bid, but Assal has since said they would be excluded.
