DEPARTMENT OF STATE Memorandum of Conversation
DATE: April 22, 1952
SUBJECT: Construction of Paper Products Plant in Egypt
PARTICIPANTS: The Secretary Mr. John Cunningham, of W. R. Grace & Co. Mr. J. Walter Juckett, Treasurer, the Sandy Hill Iron and Brass Works, Hudson Falls, N.Y. NE - Mr. Wells Stabler
COPIES TO: American Embassy - Cairo E (2) S/S (2) NEA NE/E NE Export-Import Bank
Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Juckett called on me at their request this afternoon. Mr. Cunningham asked Mr. Juckett to explain the interest of the Sandy Hill Iron and Brass Works in the construction of the paper products plant near Cairo.
Mr. Juckett said several years ago Abboud Pasha, leading Egyptian industrialist, filed an application with the Export-Import Bank for a loan of $3,919,000 to finance the dollar cost of constructing a paper products plant near Cairo. Abbouda Pasha had been in the United States last year and had held discussions with the Export-Import Bank. It was Mr. Juckett's understanding that the matter had been near decision at that time but that there had been no further developments since Abboud Pasha's visit.
Mr. Juckett said that it is the intention of his firm to build a plant which would use Egyptian sugar cane bagasse as a raw material and would employ a process developed by the W. R. Grace Company in Paramonga, Peru. Some samples of Egyptian sugar cane bagasse had been sent to the United States for tests and had been found satisfactory for this process. Mr. Juckett said that the material for the construction of the plant was available and would probably not require priorities. However, once the loan was approved it would require some twelve months before the machinery could be shipped. Mr. Juckett stressed the importance of the paper plant to the Egyptian economy as well as to the economy of the Near Eastern countries which rely upon Egypt for the printing of their newspapers and books. Mr. Juckett added that a representative of his firm had recently been in Cairo but had not been able to consult with
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Ambassador Caffery. However, it is known that Mr. Caffery and Abboud Pasha are good friends and it is also the understanding of his firm that there are no diplomatic problems between Egypt and the United States. He hoped that the Department would be able to lend its support to this project..
I thanked Mr. Juckett for his statement and said that I was not familiar with the details of the project. It seemed to me worthwhile, but there were certain problems connected with approval of the loan. I said that I would consult with my associates in the Department on the matter and that we would inform Messrs. Cunningham and Juckett further.
NEA:NE:WStabler:aff 4/23/52