Egyptian Salt Origins — Siwa, Qattara, Bardawil & North Sinai Compared

1. Siwa Oasis — Western Desert

Location: ~600 km west of Cairo, near Libyan border. Geological formation: Miocene halite deposits, formed when an arm of the Tethys Sea evaporated 5-23 million years ago.

NaCl purity: 97-99% on the natural mined product, naturally low Ca + Mg + Fe contamination.

Mined as crystalline halite, washed + screened on-site, trucked to Alexandria or Damietta loading berths (~600-700 km, 2-day truck journey).

Powers our Egyptian Bulk Rock Salt — Mine Grade and the bulk industrial / chlor-alkali grades.

2. Qattara Depression — Western Desert (lowest point in Africa)

Location: ~300 km west of Cairo. The Qattara is a 19,500 km² depression sitting 133 m below sea level — one of the world's largest natural salt-rich depressions.

NaCl purity: 97%+ (similar Miocene origin to Siwa). Slightly higher trace mineral content gives Qattara salt a marginally different crystal habit.

Shipped via Alexandria (~300 km road) or El-Dekheila bulk berth.

3. Bardawil Lagoon — North Sinai coast

Location: A 165 km long, narrow lagoon along the Mediterranean coast east of Port Said. The lagoon's narrow connection to the Mediterranean allows controlled solar evaporation — one of the world's purest natural sea-salt environments.

NaCl purity: 95-97% on the raw harvest, 97-99% on washed product, 99.5%+ on vacuum-evaporated.

Loaded at Al-Arish (EGEAR) for smaller vessels or trucked to Port Said East (EGPSE) for container + breakbulk. Powers our Sinai Salt brand.

4. North Sinai (El-Arish solar pans)

Location: Coastal pans east of El-Arish city, fed directly from the Mediterranean. Solar-evaporated in covered pans for purity control.

NaCl purity: Similar to Bardawil. Slightly higher seasonal variation (Bardawil is more buffered).

Loaded at Al-Arish or Port Said East.

5. Red Sea coast (Ain Sokhna and Safaga area)

Location: Egyptian Red Sea coast. Higher salinity than Mediterranean (41 vs 38 g/kg) gives slightly higher yield per evaporation cycle and a denser crystal.

NaCl purity: 95-97% on raw, similar processing options to Mediterranean. Higher trace mineral content (slightly more bromide, magnesium) gives Red Sea salt a distinct profile prized by some specialty food / cosmetic buyers.

Loaded at Ain Sokhna (EGSOK) or Safaga.

For importers needing to verify Egyptian origin (for EUR1, COO, FTA preference, or carbon-footprint reporting), our document set includes:

This chain is accepted by EU CBAM importers, US Customs HS verification, GCC SASO authentication, and the major reinsurance markets.

Pick the source type for your application:

• Bulk Sea Salt Wholesale — Bardawil + North Sinai + Red Sea
• Bulk Rock Salt Wholesale — Siwa + Qattara

Or submit an RFQ and we'll match origin to your spec + destination + delivery window.

The analysis above is published by the export desk of Egypt Globe Group, an Egyptian B2B commodity house incorporated in 2014 with an internal Quality Assurance division at its nucleus. Across salt, cement and clinker, fertilizers, chemicals, industrial minerals, agro and metals, every lot is laboratory-tested at the port of loading and released on a Certificate of Analysis before the Bill of Lading; independent inspection by TÜV Austria, SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas is available on every consignment, and a lot outside specification is rejected at the port rather than renegotiated.

• Quality & compliance — the QA charter, inspection partners and destination conformity programmes
• Inspection & QC · Trade documentation · Loading ports
• Request a quote — priced FOB / CIF / CFR offer, sample Certificate of Analysis and inspection protocol within 24 hours