The mill is located in a small town called "KOUS " in Upper Egypt , 700 Km to the south of Cairo .Kous is a subordinate to the 6th governorate in Upper Egypt called "QUENA " . The mill is situated on the east bank of the " River Nile " , only about 45 minutes from historical Luxor where papyrus paper was already made four thousands years ago.
General View
Several factors decided the choice of this site :-
- Nearness to source of main raw material ( bagasse ) : Bagasse is the remained material from squeezing the sugar cane for sugar manufacture. Hence it was quite natural to choose a site adjacent to a sugar company for easy access to the source of the main raw material .
- Why specially Kous sugar mill has been chosen as a source of bagasse raw material? Because, in Kous sugar mill the sugar cane is crushed and subjected to diffusion washing in such a way to maintain the good characteristics of bagasse fibers without destruction resulting in producing high strength fibers of pulp.
- Abundant supply of fresh water owing to the big amounts of water required by pulp and paper industry every day of the year , the River Nile was found the best source for mill water supply .
- Availability of engineers , chemists, skilled labors and ordinary type of working men in QUENA governorate and the surroundings .