Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association has announced that during the first five months of the current year, 359,000 mt, or about five percent, of Turkey’s total steel exports of 6.9 million mt were made to Egypt. In the given period, Turkish steel exports to Egypt saw 70 percent growth year on year, enabling the Turkish steel industry to rise to fifth among the country’s exporting industries, moving up from 11th position in the same period of the previous year.
The CIB also indicated that, despite these improvements, Egypt has imposed a safeguard duty on rebar and wire rod imports for three years, with duty rates of eight percent for the first year, 6.5 percent for the second and 3.5 percent for the third.
CIB chairman Namık Ekinci emphasized that, while Egypt has been one of the main export markets of the Turkish steel industry during recent years, lately Egyptian steel producers have been putting pressure on their government to increase their profit margins. He added that Egypt and Turkey should together fight against the dumping of steel goods, especially the Chinese threat, rather than fighting each other.