Cairo – Egyptian Starch & Glucose plans on adding new items to its line of products to diversify its portfolio following the global market changes. The company is an exporter, and Marketing director Karim Kamal (pictured) estimates a share of exports at 30% of the company’s total sales, which means approximately USD 20 million a year.
In an interview with ANBA, Kamal said Egyptian Starch & Glucose imports around 165,000 tonnes of maize a year from Brazil and Argentina in Latin America as they are among the world’s top maize growing countries. Maize is the raw material of the Egyptian company’s products.
The executive explained that there are now crisis affecting all like the rise in freight costs and raw material prices, as well as problems involving late deliveries. But despite these barriers, Kamal says the productive process of the company has not been impacted and it keeps pursuing innovative solutions to avoid the negative impacts of the rise in raw material prices.
The rise in raw material prices, he said, is widespread and affects all markets and companies and is not restricted to a country or company, which has been accepted by the global and local market. Year to date, production costs of the company’s main products, the executive says, have risen by 60%, which had a relevant impact on the final price of the product, thus affecting the demand and sales.
Egyptian Starch & Glucose exports to several countries, particularly Kenya and Nigeria in Africa, as well as Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Libya in the Arab bloc.
Kamal says the company’s products are starch and glucose, but the company plans on adding new items soon, despite the challenges the global market has faced. The expansion of the portfolio is expected to help dealing with the fluctuations in the global market. Egyptian Starch & Glucose said the new projects will be announced soon, as they are still under consideration.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
