Egypt Launches Ambitious $11 Billion Petrochemical Push to Dominate Regional Markets by 2030
Egypt’s state-owned Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) has unveiled a sweeping five-year strategy to invest $11 billion across 10 major industrial projects, targeting the domestic production of more than 20 petrochemical products currently imported from abroad. The plan, presented at ECHEM’s general assembly to approve its FY 2026/2027 investment programme, signals a bold national push to transform Egypt into a regional petrochemical powerhouse.
ECHEM Chairman Alaa El-Din Abdelfattah announced that the programme envisions a total production capacity of 7.5 million tonnes, with finished goods destined for both domestic consumption and export to more than 50 countries. Among the flagship projects earmarked under the plan are a soda ash and silicon derivatives complex in New Alamein, a methanol derivatives facility in Damietta, and an Alexandria supply chains hub designed to provide ethane feedstock and gas derivatives for future downstream industries.
Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, stressed the urgency of reducing the country’s petrochemical import bill while simultaneously expanding export revenues and creating new employment opportunities. Badawi singled out the Red Sea Petrochemicals Complex at the Ain Sokhna economic zone as a project of exceptional national significance, urging adherence to accelerated implementation timelines.
Progress on the Red Sea complex is already underway: an Egyptian-Chinese joint venture has been formed to complete preliminary designs, a five-million-square-metre site has been secured, and supply agreements have been signed with the Egyptian General Petroleum Company and Saudi Aramco. Logistics deals with the Arab Petroleum Pipelines Company and Sonker Bunkering Company are also in place for product handling and distribution.
ECHEM reported that its existing facilities reached a total output of approximately 4.2 million tonnes in 2025, boosted by improved natural gas availability. In a notable first, the Egyptian Petrochemicals Company in Alexandria successfully produced medical-grade polyvinyl chloride (PVC), broadening the country’s industrial portfolio into the healthcare supply chain.
Source: Egypt Oil & Gas (egyptoil-gas.com)
