MANUFACTURING-

Financing talks underway for Feerum’s long-awaited silo factory: The Egyptian arm of Polish grain silo company Feerum is in talks with Banque Misr and Banque du Caire to help finance its planned silo factory in East Port Said, unnamed sources told Shorouk News. The project — which now carries a revised price tag of EGP 2.5 bn, up from a cost of EGP 1.6 bn — has a production target of 1.4 mn tons of storage capacity over three years after production starts in 2026.

What’s next: A meeting between the Finance Minister and the company is penciled in for 26 January to finalize the needed financial guarantees.

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.

MANUFACTURING-

Kima and Al Sharq to partner up on alloy production: State-owned Egyptian Chemical Industries (Kima) inked a seven-year agreement with Saudi capital-backed Al Sharq Real Investment, under which the latter will operate and maintain an electric arc furnace for silico-manganese alloys production, according to a statement. Al Sharq will have the rights to sell the alloys produced — in exchange it will pay Kima USD 75 per ton produced and 30% of the revenue from by-products generated during production. The partnership is expected to generate Kima some USD 1.8 bn annually.

AUTOMOTIVE-

GM launches locally assembled Chevrolet Optra 2025: General Motors Egypt has launched the production of Chevrolet Optra 2025 model at its factory in Sixth of October City, the company said in a statement. The company has invested over USD 20 mn in local production capabilities with the addition of new equipment and error-proofing technology “to cater to the new passenger car program to ensure further safety and quality,” the statement read.

ENERGY-

Chevron to drill second well in Nargis field: US energy giant Chevron plans to invest USD 150 mn to drill a second exploratory well in the Mediterranean’s Nargis gas field next month, an unnamed government official told Asharq Business. The company will get started on drilling the second well after completing and sealing the first well, pending the finalization of the development plan, the construction of the floating production platform, and pipeline infrastructure to transport the extracted gas to the onshore processing facility. Gas production is expected by late 2026.

TRADE-

The Investment Ministry is working to establish a logistics centre in Nigeria, in addition to other centres across the continent, Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib said yesterday at the Egypt-Nigeria Joint Business Forum. Also in the works is support for export assurance programs and the better facilitation of banking operations to help support trade between Egypt and other African nations, he added.

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