Egypt’s Carbon Holdings has signed a contract with the state-owned Suez Canal Authority to build its planned Tahrir Petrochemical Complex (TPC).

“The project is funded by international institutions to comply with the petrochemicals strategy and represents an added value to the Egyptian industrial sector,” the Egyptian Cabinet said in a statement.

TPC is due to be constructed in the Suez Canal Authority’s Economic Zone in Ain Sokhna and is worth $10.9bn, according to the statement. 

The cabinet said the complex would cover an area of 5 million square meters and provides 48,000 jobs.

Originally, the project was expected to be completed in 2017, but has been subject to several setbacks and delays.

Some of the delays were connected to Egypt’s revolution and the subsequent turmoil, and more recently to financing problems. 

In 2015, Carbon Holdings said it expected financing to close by the end of the year and that it would be provided by five agencies, but talks were put on hold because Export-Import Bank of the US (US Exim) could not lend new cash until its licence was renewed by Congress.

The TPC scheme includes the construction of a 1.5 million tonne-a-year (t/y) ethylene cracker and a polyethylene facility with a capacity of about 1.4 million t/y. 

Other major products will include propylene, polypropylene, hexene, butadiene, benzene and styrene. When completed it is expected to be the largest naphtha cracker plant in the world. 

TPC has been designed to serve local and export markets, with raw materials received and products shipped from the Gulf of Suez. 

In May MEED reported that Carbon Holdings was planning for its initial public offering (IPO) to take place in 2019.

Previously the IPO was scheduled to take place before the end of 2018.

The Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes agreed to run the IPO, Chicago-based Baker and McKenzie agreed to act as local legal counsel, and New York-based White and Case agreed to perform the role of international counsel.