It looks like Port Said’s EGP 1.6 bn grain silo factory has lost its foreign partner: The Egyptian arm of Polish grain silo company Feerum has reportedly pulled out of an agreement to set up a factory to manufacture grain silos with with Egyptian construction and engineering firm Samcrete and the state-owned Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage, an unnamed Feerum Egypt official told AlMal.

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The why: The company official pointed to the Supply Ministry canceling an order for a silo — which hampered the negotiations with local banks over financing — among other undisclosed reasons.

Feerum was the project’s main shareholder: Feerum holds a 50% stake in the project, Samcrete a 26% share and the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage a 24% share.

Remember: For years, the state has been working to boost its wheat storage capacity, building more silos and taking out loans to invest in silo development, all with the aim of ensuring none of our local harvest goes to waste due to lack of sufficient silo capacity and increasing wheat reserves. The Supply Ministry has a plan to increase the country’s silo capacity to 5.3 mn tons from its current 2.1 mn tons and cut down on the percentage of wheat that is wasted in the harvest and storage process.

** We did a deep dive into the government’s efforts to build more silos to reduce wheat waste in a Going Green earlier this year. Check out the story here.

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