France's Lafarge suspends Egypt cement works

The French building materials company Lafarge said on Monday that it had suspended production at its Egyptian cement works because of the political crisis in the country. It follows a number of international firms that have withdrawn staff or scaled back operations due to security concerns in Egypt. 

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Lafarge employs 70 expatriates and 2,500 local staff in Egypt, and produces 10 million tonnes of cement per year. It has begun to evacuate foreign staff and their families, a spokesman for the group told the AFP news agency.

"Work could restart as soon as the situation returns to normal, given that the staff remains operational and the management of the units will remain in place," the spokesman said of the main cement plant.

Lafarge is the world's biggest cement producer, and its Middle East headquarters are in Egypt.

According to the firm's website, it owns a cement plant in the desert 100 kilometres southeast of Cairo, and operates 23 concrete plants and three aggregates quarries.

There are fears that ongoing demonstrations against the Egyptian government could have serious repercussions on the country's economic stability.

Earlier on Monday, ratings agency Moody's downgraded the country's debt rating by one notch to 'Ba2', with a further downgrade possible in the medium term.

Moody's explained in a statement that its decision was prompted by the "recent significant rise in political event risk," in the country.

Meanwhile oil prices rose to just under 100 dollars a barrel Monday, as fears that the events in Egypt could disrupt oil flowing through the Suez Canal on its way to the West.

Prices soon went down when the head of Opec said the cartel was ready to raise oil output if the Egypt crisis did affect supplies.