Cairo – Ambassador Hazem Fahmy, assistant foreign Minister for American affairs, accompanied by Latin American ambassadors to Cairo and representatives of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), visited the factories of the Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries Company in Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, earlier this week.
Fahmy presented Egypt’s production and export capacity in the fertilizer and chemical industries and explained Egypt’s ambitious plant to cater to the fertilizer demand of several countries and support the efforts for the global food security. Egypt’s Chemical and Fertilizers Export Council, affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, will hold missions to Latin America to discuss how to the cater to the countries’ demand.
Engineer Abed Ezz El Regal, chairman & CEO of Abu Qir, welcomed the delegation and presented the company’s nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing and export capacity for international markets. He said a major effort was made to implement a comprehensive substitution and renovation program in the plants, featuring a strategy aimed at using equipment in domestic production.
El Regal also talked about the company’s plans for digital transformation, with the implementation of electronic systems in both domestic and foreign transactions. According to him, the company has put into operation the first solar power plant, with an installed capacity of 117 kilowatts, to rationalize consumption in the sector and cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 175 tonnes per year.
Fahmy talked about the efforts of Egypt to develop a local fertilizer production system, especially because it’s an industry with a large return for the national economy and to cater to the needs of global markets, due to production scarcity ushered in by the current international tensions. Egyptian fertilizer exports reached USD 3.38 billion in 2022, up 42% from USD 2.4 billion in 2021.
The entourage featured ambassador Ashraf Mounir, deputy Foreign minister for Latin American Affairs; Michael Gamal, regional director of the ABCC office in Cairo; diplomats from, Brazil, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Cuba, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Bolivia; councilor Mina Bassily, chief of staff of the deputy Foreign minister; and Rania Hagrass, International Relations director of the ABCC office in Cairo.
The Egyptian deputy Foreign minister praised the role played by the ABCC in developing trade relations between Egypt and Brazil and bring together the business communities of the two countries, which contributed to boosting Egyptian exports to Brazil to over USD 6000 million in 2022.
Brazil and fertilizers
Brazil’s ambassador to Cairo, Antonio Patriota, talked about the strategic importance of fertilizers and pointed out that the ABCC is organizing a trade mission to Brazil featuring Egyptian chemical firms, particularly of fertilizers. The trip is expected to take place in June, and Patriota invited Abu Qir to join. Gamal also talked about the mission. It’s being organized in cooperation and coordination with Egypt’s Chemical and Fertilizers Export Council and the Egyptian Exporters Association (Expo Link). According to the executive, the initiative aims to open new horizons for Egyptian goods.
Translated by Georgette Merkhan & Guilherme Miranda
