Al Ghurair Group signed three agreements worth a combined EGP 5 bn for its USD 1 bn sugar factory in Minya last week, according to an Investment Ministry statement (pdf). The agreements include a contract with China’s Sinoma CDI to construct the facility by 2021, a contract with Elsewedy Electric to provide high-pressure water lines for the plant. The agreements also include three separate contracts with Saudi’s Al Khorayef Group for the cultivation of the land and to provide and maintain irrigation infrastructure. The sugar production project will see Al Ghurair develop 181k feddans of reclaimed desert land west of Minya to grow 1 mn tonnes of beets per year, as well as develop a USD 400 mn sugar production facility.