RIYADH: Mexican global building material company Cemex is to drop its investments in Egypt and UAE by $10 million, according to Carlos Gonzalez, the CEO of Cemex Egypt and UAE.

The original plan had been to invest $20 million, but that will now be halved.

This is mainly attributed to the supply chain crisis which may cause some investments to be postponed until 2023, Gonzalez disclosed.

Without the intervention of the Competition Protection Agency and the Prevention of Monopolistic Practices, a large percentage of companies in the cement industry would have gone bankrupt, the CEO revealed.

This comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine has directly and indirectly affected the cement industry in Egypt, he added.

The rallying energy prices and the increase in supply chain disruptions have hindered the procurement of raw materials required for the production of cement bags and spare parts for factories, he said.

As for the UAE market, it is still suffering from the lack of demand for cement which is still below pre-pandemic levels, he added.

Sales in 2022 are projected to fall between 3.7 and 3.9 million tons, Gonzalez stressed.