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A downturn in the construction sector due to the Ukraine war and other factors boosted Egypt’s exports of cement and other building materials by nearly 37 percent in the first quarter of 2022, a local report showed on Wednesday.
From around $1.415 billion in the first quarter of 2021, building material exports by the North African Arab country surged to nearly $1.894 billion, the report by the Egyptian Council for Building Materials Exports showed.
The report, published by Al-Wafd and other local newspapers, showed cement exports alone jumped by about 128 percent to $57 million from $25 million in the same period.
Steel exports also rise by around three percent to $343 million from about $335 million in the same period, the report said.
“Egyptian producers of cement and other building materials are seeking to expand their exports to reduce the production surplus caused by the current downturn in the construction sector,” it said, adding that African countries were the main export markets for those products in the first quarter of 2022.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
