The Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (Ethydco) ethylene project will be completed in 2014 at a cost of $1.2bn, according to Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) Chairman and CEO ‘Abd al-Nasir Salah as quoted in al-Masry al-Youm newspaper on 3 October 2012. Japan’s Toyo Engineering Corporation and ENPPI, the engineering unit of Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum, have started construction work at the site. Their $600mn contract calls for the construction of a 460,000 tons/year ethylene plant and a 20,000 t/y butadiene unit. A tender for a linked polyethylene plant is expected in the near future.

The ENPPI head’s comments follow the signing in mid-August of a loan agreement from National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, CIB, Banque du Caire and Arab International Bank. It will be syndicated to a wider group of local banks. (CONTINUED - 231 WORDS)