Buying an Asphalt Plant in Egypt: Batch vs Continuous, TPH Sizing, and ROI
An asphalt plant is a five-year decision — wrong type or size and you fight the same project economics every season. Here is how to pick batch vs continuous and the right TPH for the Egyptian market.
The Two Big Questions Before Anything Else
An asphalt plant is a five-to-seven-year capital decision in the Egyptian market. The wrong type or wrong size locks you into bad project economics for the lifetime of the asset. Two questions decide everything: batch or continuous, and what TPH.
Batch vs Continuous: The Honest Comparison
Batch Plant
- Mix produced in discrete batches (typically 1–3 tons each), cycle 30–55 seconds.
- Excellent mix flexibility — change recipe between batches in seconds.
- Better quality control and traceability per batch.
- More moving parts: weighing scales, mixer, batch tower.
- Capex 25–40% higher than continuous at same TPH.
Continuous (Drum-Mix) Plant
- Aggregate, RAP, and bitumen continuously fed into a rotating drum that dries and mixes simultaneously.
- Higher TPH at same physical footprint.
- Lower capex per ton/hour.
- Less mix flexibility — recipe changes interrupt production.
- Better for long road jobs with one or two consistent mixes.
Decision Rule for Egyptian Contractors
- One large highway / motorway contract, 1–2 mix designs, 80,000+ tons: continuous drum-mix.
- Mixed portfolio: motorways + airport + municipal + RAP recycling: batch plant.
- Premium / SMA / polymer-modified mixes: batch — quality control demands it.
- RAP fraction over 25%: batch with double drum (parallel-flow drying of virgin and RAP).
TPH Sizing for Egyptian Contracts
Right-size against your annual production, not your peak day. Realistic utilization in Egyptian conditions (weather, logistics, paving crew availability) is 55–70% of nameplate. Build in 30% headroom.
| Annual Production (tons) | Plant TPH (rated) |
|---|---|
| Up to 30,000 | 40–60 TPH |
| 30,000 – 80,000 | 80–120 TPH |
| 80,000 – 200,000 | 120–200 TPH |
| 200,000+ | 240–320 TPH |
Capex Reality Check (Turnkey, EGP, Egyptian Site)
- 60 TPH continuous: 9 – 13 million
- 80 TPH batch: 14 – 19 million
- 120 TPH continuous: 16 – 22 million
- 120 TPH batch (4-bin, RAP-ready): 22 – 30 million
- 200 TPH continuous: 28 – 38 million
- 200 TPH batch (full RAP, polymer-ready): 42 – 56 million
Operating Cost Per Ton (Hot Mix, Egyptian Diesel and Bitumen)
- Bitumen 4.5–5.5%: 380–520 EGP/ton (largest variable, follows global price)
- Diesel for burner: 70–110 EGP/ton
- Aggregate: 90–160 EGP/ton (depends on haul distance)
- Filler, additives: 25–55 EGP/ton
- Power: 8–14 EGP/ton
- Labor + maintenance: 18–30 EGP/ton
The 30-Day Payback Question
Most Egyptian contractors break even on a properly-sized 120 TPH plant within 14–22 months on a 70,000 ton/year contract. The plant pays itself off — what gets lost is the ROI math when the plant is undersized and bottlenecks the bidding pipeline. Size for your roadmap, not your last contract.
What Pillar Supplies
We deliver complete asphalt plants from 60 to 320 TPH, batch and continuous, including dryer drums, baghouse filters, mineral filler systems, RAP feeders, bitumen tanks, and PLC-controlled batching towers. Every plant we ship to Egypt comes with installation, commissioning, and 12 months of after-sales technical support — including a stocked spare parts kit on day one.
Ready to Move Forward?
Pillar's engineering team has delivered turnkey crushing, screening, conveyor and asphalt solutions across Egypt — from Upper Egypt cement plants to Sinai phosphate operations. If you're sizing equipment for a new project, evaluating ROI, or upgrading existing capacity, we can help you spec the right system the first time.
Request a Quote → or call +20 107 067 0649.
