Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry has announced the imposition of a 10 percent import duty on cold rolled coil, galvanized steel and pre-painted galvanized steel, with the aim of stabilizing the local market price following recent influx of cheap imports. The duty is effective of February 15, 2009.
The import duty will apply to the cost, insurance and freight value of imports, with a minimum charge of $150/mt for CRC. For galvanized steel the minimum duty will be $200/mt, while for PPGI the minimum will be $250/mt.
The duty does not exclude any countries, even those under the Arab Trade Agreement, and could be considered to be mainly targeting imports from Saudi Arabia.
The measures have been referred to as temporary and are expected to remain in effect until the end of 2009.
Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed said in a statement that the duty was necessary as some companies were selling stocks below cost, while some countries were indirectly subsidizing production.
However, it is reported that the measures against the steel products in question are still under detailed discussion on account of criticism from dissatisfied parties in the market, especially end-users.
According to unconfirmed reports from the market, while hot rolled coils are excluded from the arrangement, there have also been requests for HRC imports to be included within the scope of the measure.