There has been negative reaction from exporters of flat steel to Egypt, especially from Turkish and Saudi exporters, following the recent announcement by Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry of the imposition of a 10 percent import duty on cold rolled coil, galvanized steel and pre-painted galvanized steel, aimed at stabilizing the local market price against the recent influx of cheap imports.
As SteelOrbis has previously reported, the import duty in question is applied to the cost, insurance and freight value of imports, with a minimum charge of $150/mt for CRC. For galvanized steel the minimum duty is $200/mt, while for PPGI the minimum is $250/mt.
The duty does not exclude any countries, even those which have free trade agreements with Egypt, and therefore, is considered to be mainly targeting imports from Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Suppliers in Turkey, which signed a free trade agreement with Egypt on March 1, 2007, say that the imposition of a 10 percent duty on the products in question does not fit with the agreement's provisions. Based on the free trade agreement signed with Egypt, Turkey zeroed its customs duty on imports of all products from Egypt, while Egypt was expected to decrease its import duty rate gradually up to 2017.
On the other hand, re-rollers and end-users in the Egyptian market are arguing against the measures due to the negative effects on their business. The measures are now under review on account of the criticism from dissatisfied parties in the local market.