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China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
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The Egyptian Council reported that the export of marble and granite increased by 26.6% from January to February 2019, from USD 30 million in 2018 to USD 38 million this year.
China was the leading destination for Egyptian marble and granite in January-February, followed by Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, South Korea, Lebanon, Britain and the UAE. Brazil imported USD 46,000 worth of product from Egypt, the Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services reported.
Egypt is about to establish a high-tech center for marble and granite in Cairo industrial area with the support of the Italian government. Cairo Governor, Khaled Abdel Aal, held a meeting with the Ambassador of Italy to Egypt, Giampaolo Cantini, economic and commercial consultant, Pietro Tombachini, and representative of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Felice Longobardi, to discuss the whole plan.
Egypt has large deposits of both marble and granite, since ancient times. During the last two decades the marble industry in the country grew significantly to boost investments and trade. According to statistics, Egypt exports mostly finished marble products with finished granite to follow in a distance, and, although the country produces both marble and granite, the amounts of marble imports are not at all negligible. So, a high-tech center for marble and granite processing can be a great instrument of further expansion and evolution of the industry.
Egypt's imports of raw marble in 2018 amounted almost $ 54,5 million in total, with raw granite imports barely surpassing the $ 3,5 million in total.
Turkey is the top import origin of raw marble for Egypt in 2018, with a 35,5 % share of imports. Italy comes second with 32,6% share of imports and Spain holds the third place with 19,6% share of imports.
As for exports, finished marble products hold the leading role, with products of HS Code 680221 amounting almost $ 189 million in 2018.
State of Libya took the lead from China as the top export destination of Egypt’s finished marble products in 2018, with a 22,0 % share of exports, followed by China's 21% share of exports in 2018.
