Local re-rollers in Egypt, unhappy regarding the earlier imposed safeguard measure against square billet imports, had recently took a new case to court, aiming to halt the definitive decision. The Supreme Administrative Court, however, has used the legal option to consult the state commissioners on the matter, following which on February 1 the imposed trade regulation was announced as being correct. The court will publish its final decision by February 22 and the appeal made by re-rollers is expected to be overruled, SteelOrbis understands.
As a result, the import regulation continues to play into mills’ hands, while having a significant impact on re-rollers’ efficiency. Earlier it was stated that 22 re-rolling companies, currently active in Egypt, would shut down their production as the import tariff for billet is too high, while the domestic billet market in Egypt is not developed.
The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court came right after the final ministerial ruling in the safeguard case, according to which the duty was set at 16 percent (or a minimum of $74/mt) until April 11 next year. In the subsequent two years, the tariff will be reduced to 13 percent (or a minimum of $60/mt) and 10 percent (or a minimum of $46/mt), respectively, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.