President Mohamed Morsi opened a factory to produce styrene and polystyrene in Alexandria's Dekheila Port at a total investment cost of $408 million.

The factory, built with a 100% Egyptian capital, is expected to produce 200,000 tons annually and is part of national petrochemical projects.

The project's funding was the fruit of cooperation between the petroleum sector, Finance Ministry and the National Investment Bank.

The factory is the first of its kind in Egypt and Africa. It will produce polystyrene in accordance with international quality standards and in an environmentally-friendly method.

The plant is built on an area of 260,000 square meters and is expected to fulfill the local needs of polystyrene in addition to exporting it, an official source at the petroleum sector said.