Posted on 26 Apr 2019
Numerous Egyptian re-rollers have halted production on account of not being able to source billet competitively since the country implemented a safeguard duty on the semi-finished product last week.
A representative at one re-roller that has paused production tells Kallanish Egyptian billet producers are “… asking for very high prices, but at the same time they didn’t increase their sales prices for rebar.” This leaves re-rollers not only with no profit margin, but with a “… big loss.” It is still possible to import billet, he adds, “…but because the percentage of safeguard changes on a monthly basis, it is very hard to calculate your cost.” The safeguard quota is between 3% and 15% depending on the cif price of the product.
Re-rollers are lobbying the government to reconsider the duty but have so far not made any headway.
Al Gioshy Steel president Tarek Al Gioshy was quoted by local media this week as saying that four Egyptian steelmakers “… demanded the imposition of a temporary 15% import tariff on steel billets to protect Egypt's domestic iron and steel industry against dumping, and they provided the government with figures to prove that they are able to cover the market needs of other companies which import billet, which is contrary to the truth.”
The government made the decision without consulting any re-rollers, he added, asking for the duty to be reduced to 5% or cancelled altogether.
An Al Gioshy Steel representative did not respond to requests for further comment.
Effective 15 April, Egypt implemented provisional safeguard measures for 180 days on imports of billet, wire rod and bar (see Kallanish passim).
