Societe Generale and Tahrir Petrochemicals Corporation S.A.E, owned by private Egyptian firm Carbon Holdings Limited, have signed an agreement to manage the $5.9bn in financing required for the massive manufacturing plant, which will be located in Egypt’s new Suez Economic Development Zone, where raw materials will be unloaded, processed, and shipped to both domestic and international markets.
“Societe Generale has a long history of advising on transactions of this nature and size in Egypt and the MENA region. We are extremely pleased to be able to contribute our expertise yet again to projects that will generate jobs and play a substantial role in Egypt’s prosperity,” said Richad Soundardjee, Societe Generale’s chief executive officer in the Middle East.
The Tahrir Petrochemicals project is a private sector, green field complex and will be the largest of its kind in the country after its completion. It will be comprised of a Naphtha Cracker unit, associated derivatives, and polyethylene and polypropylene products, which are components in almost all manufactured and finished goods in the world in a wide range of industries, including textiles and plastics.
Egypt had applied for increased tariffs and trade protection for polyethylene and polypropylene products from the World Trade Organization in December 2015 in preparation for production domestically, and petrochemicals have increasingly become a protected industry in Egypt to make their development more attractive.
General Electric and Carbon Holdings signed a $500m agreement for technology sharing and equity support for the Tahrir Petrochemical project. Technologies set for transfer include advanced aero-derivative gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, water filtration and desalination equipment, turbo machinery compressors and industrial solutions services.
Financing is set to come from the Export–Import Bank of the United States, the Export–Import Bank of Korea, the Korea Trade Insurance Corporations, and the Export Credit Agency of Italy.
Carbon Holdings has also partnered with Emerson to automate the massive new factory and provide up to date technological integration in which they specialise as an industry leader.
“The complex will create economic opportunities for Egypt and unite the resources of multiple countries towards a partnership for a sustainable future,” said Industrialist, Chairperson, and Chief Executive Officer of Carbon Holdings Basil El-Baz.
El-Baz is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Tahya Misr Fund, the National Committee for Managing State Assets, and the US–Egypt Business Council.
Societe Generale was recognised at the Infrastructure Journal Awards in 2013 for a number of projects that were under development. It was rewarded Global Deal of the Year for financing the Egyptian Refining Company with investment of $2.6bn to upgrade refinery projects to produce diesel and other middle distillates and has played a central role in project finance and management which has been crucial for the direction of the Egyptian economy.
