The opposite trend…the Egyptian cement and pozzolanic materials industry

Similar to the Minister of Environment’s Decision No. (49) of 2021, and the negative impact of this decisionon the white cement industryin Egypt; As it did not take into account the technical aspects of the white cement industry – and we called on the Ministry of Environment to reconsider this decision and amend it excluding white cement factories from using “RDF” – we are now in the process of Resolution of the Minister of Trade and Industry No. (561) of 2022 regarding amending the Egyptian standard for gray cement, which in turn did not take into account the environmental aspectsof the cement industry Egyptian!

On the seventeenth of last November, Minister of Trade and Industry Decision No. (561) of 2022 was issued, which granted producers and importers of some engineering and chemical goods a six-month period; To reconcile their situations in accordance with the amendments to the Egyptian standard specifications. Among these commodities was cement, as the decision referred to Specification No. 4756-2 “Cement – Part Two: Evaluation and Verification of Regularity of Performance,” and Specification No. 4756-1 “Cement – Part One: Composition, requirements and conformity standards for common cement.”

For many decades, cement has been produced in Egypt according to the Egyptian standard, which is a mirror of European Standard No. EN197-1, a European standard to which no amendment has occurred so far. However, to succinctly, we can say: The amendment to the standard in accordance with Resolution No. (561) came to set special specifications for some raw materials (Pozzolana), These specifications are not available in the pozzolanic material found in Egypt (basalt), which means that the Egyptian cement industry is exposed to technical crises, the least harmful solutions of which negatively affect development and sustainability together!

As we know,Portland cementis produced by grinding clinker with gypsum, and clinker is produced by calcining and burning a group of raw materials such as limestone, iron oxide, loam, and sand. Therefore, the clinker production process is more fuel-consuming, more carbon-emitting, and has a greater impact on the environment. The more the cement industry can use smaller quantities of clinker and replace it with environmentally friendly raw materials – the more environmentally friendly it is. Pozzolanic materials are considered environmentally friendly materials when used in the cement industry. Due to the reduction in the percentage of clinker used, and the subsequent reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Pozzolanic materials are a broad class of siliceous and aluminous materials (materials containing silicon oxide or aluminum oxide), which are themselves non-cementitious materials, but when reacted with calcium hydroxide – in the presence of water – can produce compounds with cementitious properties. As for pozzolana, it is one of the types of pozzolanic materials that occur naturally, as it is produced from volcanic ash. Therefore, its presence is limited to countries that have volcanoes, such as Italy, Germany, Greece, China, and others.

The general definition of pozzolanic materials includes a large number of materials that differ significantly in terms of origin, composition and properties, some of which are natural, such as basalt and pozzolana, and some of which are artificial, such as fly ash from burning coal in power plants, for example.

However – as we mentioned previously – the properties of the pozzolanic material included in the new specification – which is not available – and which must be used in the Egyptian cement industry – have many negative economic, investment and environmental impacts, and the most negative of these impacts are two:

First– Importing pozzolanic material that conforms to the requirements of the new standard at a difficult time when the Egyptian state is making sincere efforts to save foreign exchange, placing a new burden on the Egyptian cement industry, which has been facing many major challenges for years.

The Other– Increasing the percentage of use ofClinker in the manufacturing process, which will result in double environmental burdens for the Egyptian cement industry.

The strange thing is that the basalt used in the Egyptian cement industry fully complies with the European standard, and can be extracted from Egypt without the need for import. However, the problem that resulted from Resolution No. (561) of 2022 is not only obligating factories to use pozzolanic materials with properties that are not available in Egypt, but rather in not considering basalt a suitable pozzolanic material for producing this type of cement. More importantly, the decision did not pay attention to the environmental aspect at a time when the whole world is competing to reduce the carbon footprint.

For the above, we appeal to officials in the Egyptian government not to take such ministerial decisions – especially those related to investment – without involving all relevant authorities in the country, along with experts in the field in question, at a time when Egypt has become more in need of the solidarity of administrative authorities; In order to create an investment climate that pushes the Egyptian state towards moving in the direction of true sustainable development within the framework of the vision of its political leadership, while such ministerial decisions push the Egyptian state to move in the opposite direction.