On Monday, June 1, Egypt's largest steel producer Ezz Steel said that so far in 2009 Egyptian steel manufacturers have been losing their share of the domestic market to imports since they are unable to keep up with surging demand.
Speaking at a conference in Cairo, Ezz Steel managing director George Matta said that demand for rebars in the second half of 2009 was forecast at about 3.3 million mt, slowing from an estimated 3.9 million mt in the first half.
"Local producers lost 35 percent of the market share in Egypt to imports in 2009. This loss was unavoidable as production capacity couldn't keep up with the surge in demand," Mr. Matta said, without specifying what share of the market Egyptian steelmakers currently control.
"While taking a significant share of the domestic market, imports have been coming in at very low prices that could not be met by most local producers," Mr. Matta added, noting also that Turkey was the sole supplier of steel rebar imports to Egypt.
Mr. Matta went on to say, "The strong consumption growth for rebars in the first half of 2009 will slow down in the second half due to seasonal factors. I think we will see a slowdown in imports this June because of the heavy loading that took place in May. There is probably two to three weeks of excess inventory that should be cleared."
Commenting on Ezz Steel's own situation, Mr. Matta said that they were about to start maintenance operations on three mills and were building some stocks to meet any shortage in supplies, adding that maintenance would last two months with each mill closing for seven to 10 days.