Egypt targets self-sufficiency in porcelain products with private sector support

Zawya

21-07-2025

Egypt - Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport Kamel Al-Wazir conducted an inspection tour of three specialized factories in the food, building materials, and metal industries located in Obour Industrial City, Qalyubeya.
Al-Wazir began his visit at the factory complex of Obour Land for Food Industries, which covers 35,000 square metres and produces 170,000 tonnes of cheese, 70,000 tonnes of sterilized milk, and 50 million litres of juice annually. The company employs over 2,500 workers and exports to more than 33 countries, including the United States, Russia and the Gulf region. In 2024, the company's exports reached $20m.
During the tour, the minister visited the sterilized milk and juice plant, inspected the reception tanks and filling machines, and viewed a mini-exhibition of the company's full product range. He also toured the white cheese factory, checking the packing hall's four production lines, cheese lab, Tetra Pak lines and final assembly area. Al-Wazir instructed the ministry's affiliated bodies to verify the safety of raw materials and equipment and stressed the need to double production of white cheese to meet rising local demand.
The minister then visited the Royal Ceramica factory, which produces ceramic and porcelain tiles across a 70,000 sqm site with an annual capacity of 15 million sqm. Its products are exported to Europe, the Middle East and the US, and the factory employs 1,665 workers. Al-Wazir toured the product showroom and various production areas, including raw material preparation, drying, glazing, pressing, sorting, and kilns.
He praised Royal Ceramica as the only facility in Egypt and the Middle East producing 2 cm and 3 cm thick porcelain tiles suitable for ports, airports and roads, as well as being the first to produce glazed porcelain tiles in sizes up to 60×120 cm. The minister highlighted the factory's sustainable production model, which recycles all water and raw material residues, reducing costs and improving resource efficiency.
Al-Wazir directed that tiles for metro station construction projects be sourced locally to support Egyptian industry. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to protecting domestic manufacturers from dumping practices under WTO rules, aiming to lower the import bill and increase local production. He also expressed the ministry's goal for Royal Ceramica to achieve full self-sufficiency in porcelain products for the Egyptian market.
Concluding his tour, Al-Wazir visited Obour Metal Industries factory 'Galva Metal,' part of Kandil Steel Group, which spans 46,300 sqm. The group's total investments amount to EGP 3bn, with annual production capacity of 900,000 tonnes of cold-rolled, galvanized and colour-coated steel coils. Products are exported to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the US, and the group employs 1,400 workers.
The minister viewed a mini-exhibition of finished products and inspected production lines, including pickling and rolling, grinding, furnaces, galvanizing and the zinc bath. He also toured two multi-slit cutting lines — the first of their kind in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa — designed to produce high-precision steel sheets for the home appliance sector. The €6m investment in these lines was completed in 2024.