Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting to follow up on the project to produce soda ash and its derivatives in the industrial zone in New Alamein City.

The meeting was attended by Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE); Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Public Enterprises Sector; Ahmed Samir, Minister of Trade and Industry; Mokhtar Abdel Latif, Chairman of the Arab Organization for Industrialization; Ibrahim Mekki, Chairman of the Egyptian Petrochemical Holding Company (ECHEM), Shaher Reda, CEO of the Egyptian Soda Ash Company, Hesham Ramzy Gad, from the Military Technical College, and officials of the concerned authorities.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of this project, which contributes to maximizing the added value of Egypt’s natural and mineral wealth by supplying the local market with soda ash, adding that this also helps in expanding industries related to this substance.

El Molla reviewed the project of the Egyptian Soda Ash Company, which is to be established in the industrial zone in New Alamein City.

The minister explained that this project aims to establish a complex for the production of soda ash (sodium carbonate) and its derivatives, with a capacity of about 600,000 tons annually to serve the needs of the local market and help in exporting the product abroad, as well as expanding industries related to soda ash, such as glass industries and detergents.

El Molla also discussed the project in more depth, explaining that the project consists of main products that include heavy soda ash, light soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, sodium percarbonate, as well as side products. In addition to the presence of feed materials for the project, including limestone, anthracite coal, sodium chloride, and ammonia.

For his part, Reda delivered a presentation on the project’s progress so far, where he discussed the steps for selecting a general contractor for the project through a tender with the participation of several international companies, as well as what is related to securing the necessary financing.

Reda also touched on the position of securing raw materials to feed this huge project, ways to secure the project with the necessary facilities, in addition to plans for marketing the product locally and globally.

He drew attention to the results of the feasibility studies conducted on this project. Reda explained that the selection of the site for the implementation of the project in the new city of El Alamein was made after a comparative study with several sites in several other governorates, which proved that the chosen site is the most appropriate, adding that there is a plan to connect the project site with a transport network for railways and electric trains.