Egypt’s exports of construction and building materials has reached EGP 41.93 bn in 2016 compared to last year’s EGP 21.93 bn, according to Export Council for Building, Refractory and Metallurgy Industries (ECBM), reported Daily News Egypt.

According to Daily News Egypt, President of ECBM Jamal Al Din stated that, in 2016, Egypt exported for EGP 3.69 bn iron and steel, for EGP 3.69 bn aluminum, for EGP 2 bn marble and granite, for EGP 2 bn glass, and for  EGP 1.4 bn cooper.

This increase of exported materials followed the Egyptian pound’s flotation; not to mention the increasing regional market demands due to the low prices that led to this revenue.

Countries like Libya and Syria are keen to import Egyptian construction material despite some obstacles met during the exporting process.

ECBM has previously urged the government to reduce export fees on raw goods; “however, fees of marble and granite have not been changed,”added Al Din to Daily News Egypt. Al Din believes that the flotation will come to positive effects in 2017, predicting exports to increase by billions.