The Suez Canal signs a two-billion-dollar agreement to establish a petrochemical complex economy

The Egyptian Suez Canal Authority said on Wednesday that it had signed a strategic partnership contract worth $2 billion with Anchorage Investments to establish a petrochemical complex in Ain Sokhna.

The authority said in a statement, “This giant industrial project comes in implementation of the directives of the political leadership to consolidate the partnership with the private sector to build an advanced national industrial base equipped with the latest global technology.”

She added, “In the first phase, the petrochemical complex aims to produce polypropylene as a main product from propane, in addition to producing hydrogen as a by-product, with investments exceeding two billion dollars. The complex will expand in the second phase by producing other petrochemical products.”

The statement did not provide further details about the partnership or the project timeline.

The company said in a statement that the project is scheduled to be built on a plot of land owned by the authority in Ain Sokhna, northwest of the Gulf of Suez, and that it will provide more than 2,500 direct and indirect job opportunities after construction is completed and operations begin.

She indicated that it is also planned to “establish additional complementary industrial units focused on export and sustainability at an estimated cost of $4.5 billion.”

Channel strategy

Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said, “Establishing a petrochemical industrial complex on the Authority’s land in Ain Sokhna comes within a clear strategy for the Suez Canal to maximize the use of its assets, diversify economic activities in a way that reflects the multiple sources of income and achieve added value to the Egyptian economy by contributing to reducing the bill for Egyptian petrochemical imports and supporting the export base to strengthen the Egyptian state’s foreign exchange treasury.”

Founder and General Manager of Anchorage, Ahmed Muharram, said, “The Anchorage Benitoit complex represents the first phase of a broader industrial vision and growth strategy for the chemical industries that is focused on export and in keeping with the principles of sustainability.”