The Egyptian government increases the price of natural gas supplied to the cement industry by 109% to $12 per million British thermal units, Invest-Gate reports.

The decision came to adjust gas prices to match current global prices, a government source comments.

Head of Research at NAEEM Allen Sandeep says that the decision will have a mild impact on cement factories, as most of them are using coal.

However, it will cause some factories to postpone plans to convert from coal to gas, which was considered due to the recent increase in global coal prices, he adds.

In October, Egypt rose the prices of gas supplied to factories of iron, steel, cement, petrochemicals, and fertilizers by $1.25 to $5.75 per each MBTU, bringing it up to $4.75 per MBTU for other industries.