Archive for Egyptian exports

Egypt wants lower Israeli part requirement in trade agreement

by admin
November 2nd, 2012

The Egyptian government has submitted a request to Israel to reduce the required percentage of Israeli-made parts in products included in the Qualifying Industrial Zones agreement from 10.5 to 8 percent, Egypt’s industry and trade minister said Thursday.

The QIZ agreement exempts Egyptian exports from customs duties when shipping to the United States, provided that the exports are manufactured with a certain percentage of Israeli parts.

Minister Hatem Saleh said he expects an industrial growth of 5 percent in the coming months, compared to about 4 percent currently.

He added that the growth rate signifies the beginning of a recovery in Egypt’s industrial sector. He noted that exports have recently increased by 16 percent.

Hundreds of Egyptian companies export products to the United States under the QIZ agreement. Export volumes have been running at around US$800 million annually.

Egypt, Israel and the United States signed the QIZ agreement in 2004, which stipulates that the Egyptian exports to the US should contain 11.7 percent Israeli components, a number that was reduced to 10.5 in 2007.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Govt to stop subsidizing energy for cement factories, says minister

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August 26th, 2012

 

The government will no longer subsidize energy for new cement factories, including 14 factories for which licenses have already been issued, according to the industry and trade minister.

Minister Hatem Saleh told a press conference on Sunday that the new factories will individually purchase energy through the Petroleum Ministry according to international rates, and that energy prices for existing cement plants would gradually be readjusted to be even with prices for new ones.

Saleh added that Egyptian exports between January and July 2012 were 5 percent less than the same period last year. He expects total exports to be LE130 billion by the end of 2012, below the target of LE160 billion. He also projected a further decline of 18 percent in August alone.

In addition to the depreciation of the Euro and worldwide economic crises, Saleh attributed the decline in exports to increasing labor strikes, especially in the ports of Ain Sokhna and Damietta, which have prompted investors to cancel their contracts with the Egyptian government.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Govt report: Total value of exports LE182.6 bn in 2011, up from 2010

by admin
June 12th, 2012

The total value of Egyptian exports was LE182.6 billion in 2011, up from LE154.8 billion in 2010.

The annual bulletin of economic relations between Egypt and the United States issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in 2011 showed that the US share of Egyptian exports was LE9.5 billion in 2011, nearly the same as LE9.6 billion in 2010.

According to the bulletin, ready-made clothes and linens were first among total exports to the US, representing 44.6 percent of exports in 2011. They made up 48.6 percent of exports in 2010.

The bulletin also reported an increase in the total value of imports to LE370.2 billion in 2011, up from LE300.4 billion in 2010. The US share of those imports was LE37.6 billion in 2011, compared to LE28.1 billion in 2010.

The most imports from the US were of iron and its products, representing 15.8 percent of the 2011 total, compared to 17 percent in 2010.

Egypt’s number of tourists, according to the bulletin, dropped to 184,600 in 2011 from 361,500 tourists in 2010. The number of nights spent by tourists in Egypt also decreased by 35.1 percent, from 4.4 million nights in 2010 to 2.9 million nights in 2011.

Edited translation from MENA

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Textile exporters stop working with Israeli industrial zone counterparts

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April 29th, 2012

Egyptian public sector textile companies working under the Qualifying Industrial Zones agreement have stopped working with their Israeli part suppliers due to what they call increasing economic difficulties.

The Egyptian exporters said their exports to the US — which under the agreement contain a certain amount of Israeli components — have greatly decreased as the US has reduced customs duties for exporters from Pakistan and China, and indirectly squeezed out the Egyptian firms.

Consequently, garment exports from the Mahalla, Kafr al-Dawar and Amiriya companies to the United States have declined by 80 percent.

“Our exports to the United States this year did not exceed LE3 million, which is only 15 percent of our estimated target,” said Kamel al-Tawash, head of the Amiriya Company, adding that there is a large surplus of Israeli parts in stores due to the US’s decreased demand for Egyptian products.

“We made too many concessions to restore the US market by increasing quantities of components imported from Israel,” he said, calling for an alternative agreement in light of the political tensions between Cairo and Tel Aviv following the cessation of a bilateral natural gas deal.

The Qualifying Industrial Zones agreement between Egypt, Israel and the US was signed in 2004 and took effect early the next year. It stipulates that Egyptian exports to the US are duty-free, provided 11.7 percent of their components were made by Israeli firms.

Last week, Egypt unilaterally terminated the gas deal with Israel, which dates back to 2005 as well. Egypt said commercial reasons were behind the termination, and denied that the decision was politically motivated.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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34% decrease in volume of trade between Egypt, US in January 2012

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April 20th, 2012

Ezz Eddin Ashraf, Egyptian envoy to the United States, said that the volume of trade between Egypt and the US in January 2012 decreased by 34.2 percent to US$545.3 million, compared to $829.8 million in January 2011.

Ezz Eddin told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Egypt's exports decreased by 10.9 percent during January 2012, compared to January 2011, to $152.3 million from $171 million. He said the decrease was due to Egypt’s failure to export any petroleum products last January, compared to $26.9 million worth of oil exports in January 2011.

He added that Egypt previously exported metal fuel, liquefied natural gas and crude oil to the US.

Ezz Eddin said non-oil exports rose in January 2012 to reach $152.3 million, a 5.6 percent increase from $144.1 million in January 2011.

Products listed in the Qualified Industrial Zones agreement witnessed the greatest export increase, rising by 29.4 percent to reach $106.3 million in January 2012 from $82.1 million in January 2011.

Ezz Eddin noted that the most important Egyptian exports were textiles, carpets and cotton, in addition to urea fertilizer and decorative pieces, vegetables, medicinal herbs and aluminum.

Egypt was ranked 43 on the list of countries importing from the United States in January 2012. It was ranked second in Africa after South Africa, third among Arab countries after the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and third in the Middle East after Israel and Turkey.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Egyptian natural gas exports rise by 26%

by admin
April 3rd, 2012

Egyptian exports of natural gas and its derivatives rose by 26.1 percent in January, the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center has said.

The rise in exports generated revenues of US$201 million.

In its monthly bulletin, the center said the rate of natural gas production rose by 0.15 percent in January, totaling about 4.06 million tons, slightly up from last year’s total of 4.05 million tons.

Local consumption of natural gas rose by 15.21 percent in January 2012 compared to the same month last year. Electricity generation from natural gas went up by 2.6 percent in 2012.

In the petroleum sector, exports of crude oil and petroleum products dropped by 27.3 percent in January 2012, yielding revenues of $353 million, down from $485.6 million in the same month the year before.

Local consumption of petroleum products slipped by 8.6 percent, totaling 2.61 million tons in January 2012 — down from about 2.86 million tons in January 2011.

Egypt’s production of crude oil, condensates and butane gas rose by 0.7 percent in January 2012, the center said.

Translated from MENA

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Categories Egypt Economy
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