The Minister of Industry, Tarek Kabil, announced that conditions booklets for new cement production licences will be issued in the coming days to meet future local demand. The cabinet had recently agreed  to set a fixed value for licences based on economic feasibility, as well as to allow bidding by qualified applicants.  The introduction of new licences will help prepare for future demand, which Kabil expects to reach 90.4 million tons by 2022 with Egypt’s current cement production capacity at 70 million tonnes and demand of 50+ million tonnes. In November 2015, the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) announced it may grant new licences for cement production in 1Q2016. (Al Mal, Al Borsa)