Egypt: 7,500 workers from two paper companies in Qena and Edfu protest

Workers at two paper companies in Qena and Edfu, Aswan governorate, called on the government to intervene quickly to protect the paper mill that is based in its production on the various sugar cane factories.

The workers called for this domestic industry, which covers three-thirds of the local market needs through production of 90 thousand tons for Edfu, to be quickly saved.

For their part, the engineers explained the importance of the decrease in the price of natural gas to 3 instead of $ 5 for a million thermal units used in these two companies and the introduction of a protection fee for imported paper as is the case for the metal and textile industry. Engineers have also called for a VAT exemption of raw materials as industrial waste.

The sugar cane factories have raised the prices of the raw material used in the manufacture of paper pulp which has been considered as dramatic by the workers since paper mills will have a hard time managing this increase. In this context, the workers explained that it is illogical to import raw materials while Egypt is one of the richest countries in sugarcane production and called for the implementation of a technical committee established by the Ministerial Council in order to save this industry and all the factories involved.