German companies mull several proposals to set up shop in Egypt, spelling a boost in exports

Egypt lines up more exports: German companies signalled their interest in building several projects resulting in a boost of exports for Egypt on Egypt’s Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib visit to Germany over the weekend.

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Among the interested parties:

#1- A EUR 1 bn direct reduced iron factory, courtesy of German Metal manufacturer SMS Group, according to a statement from Egypt’s Investment Ministry. The factory is expected to have a capacity of 2.5 mn tons per year, which could be expanded to 4 mn tons. An SMS delegation is set to arrive in Egypt for further negotiations soon, with the company still looking for a company to partner with for the project and wanting to explore establishing the factory in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).

#2- A EUR 5 mn first phase of a bicycle parts factory, spearheaded by German bicycle manufacturer Cube that would manufacture carbon-reinforced bicycle parts for export to European factories assembling bicycles. The project is expected to have a production capacity of 300k parts per year, generating EUR 10 mn in exports annually. The bicycle manufacturer is set to visit Egypt for a second time to secure a 40k sqm plot in Tenth of Ramadan City for the project.

This could just be the first of Cube’s Egypt investments, with the company also to study the proposal of opening up a factory to produce complete bicycles “completely” manufactured in Egypt, according to the statement.

#3- German auto parts manufacturer Mutares Group is looking to establish a factory in Egypt, according to a statement by Egypt’s Investment Ministry. The 10k sqm factory would export 90% of its production, according to the statement, which provided no details on the potential cost or timeline for the project

What’s next? A delegation from Mutares is set to arrive in Egypt in the coming period to determine suitable partnerships for the project and to discuss establishing the project in an area under the SCZone.