The Arabian Cement Company: Seeing it through

Founded in 1997, Egypt-based Arabian Cement Company became a member of Spain's Cementos La Union group in 2004. In the past decade, ACC has faced a crumbing economy, licensing conflicts and political unrest. ACC's CEO Jose Magrina spoke with CemWeek about the management decisions that have secured the company's position within the Egyptian cement sector going into the future.

CemWeek: The past six months have clearly been turbulent in Egypt. What long-term market and structural changes have happened as a result of the events in Egypt?

Jose Magrina: In the short term, structured projects and further foreign and local investments have completely stopped, decreasing demand by an estimated five to ten percent compared to the previous year. Also, this has happened in an environment where supply has increased by more than ten million tons per year in less than six months. But in the long run, ACC remains committed to the country and believes that the political changes will bring a stable business environment that will attract further investment on higher rates than the ones witnessed in 2008 and 2009.

Read the full interview in the August / September issue of the CemWeek Magazine here.