The Supreme Administrative Court of Egypt has postponed its decision regarding the possible re-imposition of the 15 percent billet import duty to October 5, SteelOrbis has learned. As a result, the confrontation between local steel producers and re-rollers continues. “What’s strange is that by October 5, the 180 days since the date of duty introduction will be almost finished,” a local source said.
According to the report of the Egyptian Trade Ministry, cited by the local media, it is believed that the absence of the billet import restriction will have an impact on the local steel production and result in some massive labor lay-offs. However, the re-rollers insist their interests have to be protected as well since the size of the import duty restricts their margins, while the internal billet market in Egypt is not quite established.
As a result, the duty of $65.68/mt for an import price of $437.9/mt CFR remains currently valid in Egypt. The demand for the import billet is limited from the end-user side with only traders buying small lots, adding to already sizeable billet stocks at the ports, SteelOrbis understand.
