Egypt's largest steel producer
EZZ Steel announced on November 18 that its subsidiary Ezz Rolling Mills (ERM) has been awarded a new license for the construction of direct reduced iron (DRI) modules and additional meltshop facilities at
EZZ Steel's site in Sokhna-Suez.
The company has been awarded the new license replacing a previously owned one which had been annulled following the announcement on September 15, 2011 of the Egyptian Court of First Instance's decision to annul the licenses previously awarded to
EZZ Steel and three other Egyptian steel producers in 2008.
According to the company statement, the new license relates only to
EZZ Steel's new expansions and do not relate to any of
EZZ Steel's current
production, which continues normally.
The company said that Ezz Rolling Mills (a 99 percent-held subsidiary of
EZZ Steel) has undergone all the necessary procedures, resulting in the approval of the Egyptian Industrial Development Authority for the issue of a new license instead of the previously issued license, based on the same grounds applied for the three other steel producers that were part of the aforementioned court ruling.
These terms reflect a total payment of EGP 330 million (approx. $54 million) to be paid over the next six and a half years, with a 15 percent down payment, followed by a grace period of 18 months, and the remaining 85 percent to be paid over the following five years in equal installments. Ezz Rolling Mills has paid the down payment and received the license on November 14, according to
EZZ Steel.