APICORP signed Alexandria Acrylic Fibers Company joint venture agreement

17/09/2003 – Under the patronage of His Excellency Atef Obeid, Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the presence of H.E. Engineer Sameh Fahmi, the Minister of Petroleum, a join-venture agreement was signed in Egypt on Wednesday 17th September between Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) and Sidi Kerir Petrochemical Company, Alexandria Carbon Black Company, the Egyptian Petrochemical Holding Company, the Saudi Egyptian Industrial Investments Company and Aditya Birla Group of India.
The agreement aims towards the formation of Alexandria Acrylic Fibers Company, which will, in turn, establish and operate an acrylic fibers plant in Al Amriyah near the city of Alexandria in Egypt, for the production of Acrylic fibers used in the manufacturing of cloth, carpet and other consumer goods. The project cost is estimated at approximately US$ 70 million.

In the first phase of the project, a single production line with an output of 18 thousand tons of acrylic fibers per annum will be constructed to partially meet the demand of the Egyptian and the Middle East as well as the African markets where the demand is approximately 176 thousand tons per year.

The Aditya Birla Group, the sponsor and promoter of the project, is one of largest industrial groups in the world. It has a large industrial and investment activities in a number of Asian countries. In addition, Birla Group is one of leading shareholders in Alexandria Carbon Black Company in Egypt.

It is worth mentioning here that APICORP’s participation in this project represents an extension to its continued support to the Egyptian petroleum and petrochemical industries sector, where APICORP holds direct equity investments in the following projects:

Alexandria Carbon Black Company – APICORP investment: 12%.
The Oriental Petrochemicals Company – APICORP investment: 14%.
The Egyptian Fertilizers Company – APICORP investment: 10%.

In addition, APICORP has actively participated in arranging and financing most of the major project loans connected with the oil and gas industry in Egypt, amounting to US$ 1000 million, with a final take of about US$ 204 million.

Furthermore, APICORP has spared no effort in the consolidation of its close cooperation with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and the related bodies in Egypt with the aim of providing further financing support and assistance as needed by the Egyptian industry in the oil and gas sector.