Egypt to probe Sinai Cement's alleged production switch

Company reportedly switches production from white to gray cement without prior approval.[$]

Egypt's Sinai Cement faces a probe based on reports that it has switched some of its production from white cement to gray without prior consent, reports Al Masry Al Youm.

According to reports, units at the company received a license for an additional 0.5 million tons of white cement, but allegedly used it to market gray cement without the approval of the concerned authorities. Sinai Cement has two direct and indirect holdings in plants, one for the production of white cement capacity of 450,000 tons per year, and the second for the production of gray cement production capacity of 3 million tons, the report said.

Said Ahmed Orabi, managing director of the company North Sinai Cement says the transformation of the license from white to gray cement is contrary to law, and must obtain the approval of the Industrial Development Authority prior to production.

He added, that in terms of technical specifications, there is objection to the conversion of white cement to gray, especially as it requires equipment and technical specifications in particular that are not available in the factory, the report said.{/reg}