According to Egyptian media reports, Egyptian steel producers and downstream manufacturers have discussed the impact of safeguard measures on billet imports amid disagreements between rolling mills and integrated steel producers over production costs, raw material availability and competitiveness. Industry representatives are also expected to meet with government officials to discuss the issue.
The meeting in question is scheduled for October 19 and will involve the ministers responsible for industry, investment and foreign trade, alongside representatives of steel, metal and engineering industries.
Egypt imposes three-year safeguard duties on billet imports
Under Resolution No. 121 of 2026, Egypt imposed safeguard duties on billet imports for three years, starting at 13.12 percent with a minimum of $70/mt in the first year, as SteelOrbis reported previously.
The duties will subsequently decline to 12 percent with a minimum of $64/mt in the second year and 11 percent with a minimum of $59/mt in the third year. The measures follow temporary safeguard duties of 16.2 percent imposed on billet imports for 200 days in September 2025.
Rolling mills warn of higher production costs and limited billet availability
Representatives of rolling mills stated that safeguard duties are increasing their production costs and affecting their competitiveness. They emphasized that assessments of domestic billet availability should be based on actual production volumes available for sale rather than installed capacity, as integrated producers consume part of their billet output internally. They also highlighted eight new billet production licenses with a combined capacity of approximately 2.8 million mt, stating that accelerating the implementation of these projects could help increase domestic supply. Meanwhile, they proposed introducing production quotas for individual factories and reviewing tax arrangements to establish a more balanced competitive environment between large and small producers.
Representatives of Egypt's engineering industries also raised concerns about the high prices of locally produced steel products. They stated that the price difference between domestically produced and imported products, estimated at up to 40 percent, is weakening the competitiveness of Egyptian engineering manufacturers. They added that domestic production meets approximately 55-65 percent of demand, making imports necessary to cover the remaining requirements.
In contrast, representatives of integrated and semi-integrated steel producers have defended the billet safeguard duties, arguing that the measures are necessary to protect domestic investments against unfairly priced imports. According to industry representatives, Egyptian billet imports increased from approximately 128,000 mt in 2021 to 1.7 million mt in 2024, with an estimated value of $1 billion. Imports subsequently reached approximately 430,000 mt during January-August 2026, indicating that foreign supplies continued entering the market despite the safeguard measures.
Industry data indicate that Egypt's annual billet production capacity stands at approximately 13.6 million mt, compared with estimated billet requirements of 8.8 million mt for rebar production. Of the total installed capacity, approximately 8.7 million mt belongs to integrated producers, 2.4 million mt to semi-integrated plants and 2.6 million mt to induction furnace-based facilities. Annual rebar production is estimated at approximately 8.4 million mt. However, rolling mills argue that these figures do not accurately reflect the quantities of billet available for independent producers, as a significant portion of domestic production is consumed internally by integrated and semi-integrated plants.
