Following the safeguard investigation against hot rolled coil (HRC) imports to Egypt, initiated at the end of April this year, the authorities have issued a notification to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the provisional measures and the imposition of a safeguard duty. Such a step is called to protect the local flat steel industry from the excessive imports of HRC with the measure covering all origins and is most likely to significantly slow down Egypt’s import activity in this segment.
According to the notification, imports of hot-rolled flat steel surged 31 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, and by a striking 116 percent compared to 2021.
It is proposed to impose a provisional safeguard duty of 13.6 percent ad valorem of the CIF value, with a minimum specific duty of 3,673 EGP/mt on hot-rolled flat steel imports, effective from September 14 to April 1, 2026. These products currently fall under the codes 7208.10, 7208.25, 7208.26, 7208.27, 7208.36, 7208.37, 7208.38, 7208.39, 7208.40, 7208.51, 7208.52, 7208.53, 7208.54, 7208.90, 7211.14, 7211.19, 7225.30, 7225.40, 7226.91, and 7226.99.
Before the start of the initial safeguard investigation, China, Russia, Japan and occasionally Turkey had been selling HRC to the Egyptian market with the flow diminishing following the announcement in April. With the 13.6 percent safeguard duty imposition, sources expect Egypt to remain practically closed for HRC imports. “Here we are looking at around $70/mt on top of the import offers, which can be accepted only in the case that local HRC surges to higher levels,” an HRC producer told SteelOrbis. This week, the local HRC in Egypt is available at around $600/mt ex-works with the estimated offers from Russia at $500-510/mt CFR and from China at $515-525/mt CFR, sources reported.
