Egypt has raised natural gas prices for various industries under a decree issued by Prime Ministerial Decision No. 1306 of 2026, published in the Official Gazette. The move adds about $2 per million British thermal units, according to a person familiar with the Ministry of Petroleum’s pricing file. Analysts expect the hike to heighten inflationary pressures in the coming period.
A government official told Al Manassa in April that the government was preparing to lift gas prices for several industries starting in May as part of a plan to restructure energy subsidies and narrow the gap between supply costs and domestic selling prices, in light of global market fluctuations and a rising import bill.
The decision, issued on April 30, set the gas price for cement factories at $14 per million BTUs, $7.75 for iron and steel, non-nitrogenous fertilizer, and petrochemical industries, and $6.75 for other industrial activities. The increase will not apply to factories with supply contracts that include special pricing formulas.
The decree also stipulated linking the price of gas allocated to the petrochemical sector for the production of ethane and propane mixtures to a formula tied to international product prices. This will have a minimum floor of $6.50 per million BTUs, compared to $4.50 before the decision, according to the Ministry of Petroleum source, who requested anonymity.
In this context, Ibrahim Adel, a macroeconomic analyst at Mubasher Trade, told Al Manassa that the rise in gas costs for factories will naturally be reflected in the prices of final products, as companies tend to pass a portion of this increase on to consumers.
Esraa Ahmed, a macroeconomic analyst at Thundr Securities Brokerage, told Al Manassa that while price hikes in sectors like cement and petrochemicals do not directly reflect on everyday consumer goods, they are passed on through production chains, especially in food-related industries.
The fertilizer sector is among the most affected by rising gas prices, which could lead to an increase in agricultural production costs, she said. This would consequently impact the prices of crops and vegetables, which carry significant weight in the inflation basket.
The annual inflation rate reached 13.5% last March, compared to 11.5% in February, according to a statement by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), amid rising prices for food, transport, and energy. Analysts in a previous Al Manassa report predicted that April inflation could reach approximately 16% with the continuation of the war.
This increase followed the US-Israeli war on Iran, which raised global energy prices and increased financial investment risks in emerging markets, leading to the exodus of hot money (foreign speculative capital) from Egypt and a subsequent depreciation of the local currency against the dollar.
