Major Egyptian cement producer Suez Cement announced last week that the Egyptian cement industry, benefiting from increased energy availability, increased production by 29 percent compared to last year and by 23 percent through the first nine months of 2015, reported Global Cement.

Despite increased production, international demand for cement has declined, leading to a surplus domestically which has reduced the price of cement. Increases in the cost of energy by up to 30 percent further undermined profits.

The company is seeking to retool its factories to decrease the effect that price fluctuations in natural gas and mazot can have on profitability. Suez Cement seeks to diversify its energy consumption to include greater use of waste-derived fuels, petroleum coke, coal and renewable energy.  The aim of the diversification is to increase production capacity while reducing operational and production costs.