Egypt’s state petrochemical holding company ECHEM has reportedly reviewed the pre-commissioning readiness of the Suez Methanol Derivatives (SMD) plant under construction in Damietta.
ECHEM’s chairman reportedly visited the construction site on August 10 to review remaining EPC work, safety, and commissioning readiness. The plant is expected to produce value-added petrochemical products for fertilizer, MDF (medium-density fiberboard), and ready-mix concrete feedstock uses, it is reported.
Total investment is reportedly about $120 million, with annual capacity of 140,000 tonnes, and the project has reportedly reached 71% completion.
The Egyptian government is reportedly pursuing a downstream petrochemical diversification strategy, and this project is introduced as part of that effort.
This is viewed as an example of Middle Eastern countries diversifying away from crude oil and gas toward value-added chemical products.
The timing of commissioning start and the actual commercial operation target date are worth watching.