By Sara Aggour and Mostafa Fahmy

Arabian Cement is seeking to utilise alternative energy to increase its capacity to 100%, the company’s CEO Jose Maria Magrina told Daily News Egypt on the sidelines of the Economic Summit.

The company is currently running at approximately 80% of its capacity, with around 70% of the energy it uses is coal. In the meantime, 10% of its energy is reliant on alternative energy such as waste and biomass.

Arabian Cement is currently working on the completion of another installation that would allow utilisation of waste for the production capacity can reach 100%. The conversion will be completed within one month.

“We could increase production the moment we finish our complete conversion to alternative fuels,” Magrina said.

The company is seeking to increase its revenues by 10% this year, compared to the preceding one.

Magrina said the company is always looking for new investments, adding that it is expanding on concrete because the new city will need enormous amounts of concrete.

“In terms of capacity, we are not going to invest more,” he said.

The company was discussing the possibility of financing a facility it has in Brazil from Egyptian banks’ loans, but this has been shelved.

“We decided, because it is still small in comparison with our size as a company, to finance it ourselves,” Magrina said.