Egypt exports 30% of its glass production

CAIRO – 9 April 2018: The volume of Egypt’s exports of glass represents 30 percent of its production, according to Head of Glass Division at Federation of Egyptian Industries Mohamed Khattab.

Khattab added that Egypt was an importer of glass until 2010, clarifying that in 2012, the state was able to achieve self-sufficiency and started to export its produced glass.
The head of glass division noted that new productive capacities entered the glass industry in 2010 with the operation of two large factories.

The volume of consumption of glass in Egypt is constantly increasing as a result of the increased demand for glass used in construction, facades, and a number of projects as Grand Real Estate, Khattab added.

He pointed out that the neighboring markets ask for the Egyptian glass, especially the Arab and African markets, as well as the countries associated with Egypt in trade agreements such as the COMESA countries, as a result of the high quality of the Egyptian glass product.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) represents a free trade area with 19 member states, stretching from Libya to Swaziland. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981.

The glass sector has a great opportunity to be expanded in the markets of countries undergoing reconstruction, led by Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, Khattab pointed out.

About exporting silica sand that is used for the glass industry, Khattab said that Egypt exports around 1 million ton annually, remarking that the state can get more benefits from the sand by using it in industries instead of exporting it as a raw material.

Khattab mentioned Germany as an example that stopped exporting raw materials and replaced them with manufactured products, offering more job opportunities to the citizens and developing the industry.

Khattab said earlier that the growth in Egyptian glass industry reached 10 percent which exceeds the international rate, which is 4 percent.

Glass industry in Africa is limited to three countries which are Egypt, Algeria and South Africa.

The volume of glass production in Egypt was doubled in five years, to reach 450,000 tons in 2017, up from 270,000 tons in 2012.