CAIRO - Suez Cement, Egypt's biggest cement maker by market value, said a lack of fuel supplies had forced it to cut production by as much as 30% this year.
Two years of political upheaval had brought chaos to Egypt's economy and a lack of state funds and foreign currency was now disrupting imports of vital energy supplies.
Long queues at petrol stations, protests at cooking gas shortages and ever more frequent power cuts pointed to a gathering fuel crisis in the North African country.
Energy accounted for around half the cost of producing cement in Egypt.
"A lack of fuel supplies has cut our annual production of 12-million tons by between 20% and 30% since the start of the year," said Italcementi subsidiary Suez Cement business development director Mohamed Shanan.
"Any increase in (fuel) prices must be matched by an increase in cement prices," Shanan told reporters at an energy conference late on Monday.
But he said fuel costs had doubled in the past three years, while cement prices had grown by just 30%.
Suez Cement shares were up 1.5% at 23 pounds on Tuesday, while the benchmark EGX30 index was up 1%.