Egyptian longs producers have increased their export price levels by around $20-30/mt over the past week depending on the supplier, citing rising production costs, logistics expenses and in general the expected negative consequences of the war in the Middle Eastern region. In the domestic market in Egypt, however, prices for longs have been kept stable despite the ongoing currency fluctuations, in addition to the abovementioned factors.
Currently, Egyptian mills are in the export market to sell longs for April-May shipments and rebar is offered at $580/mt FOB, while rebar in coil and wire rods are priced at $590/mt FOB. Previously, Egypt was offering the mentioned products at $550-560/mt and $560-570/mt FOB, respectively. Demand has been mainly silent recently in the African region, while in the EU somewhat better market activity is expected towards the second half of April.
In the local market, Ezz Steel’s price is still at around EGP 37,000-37,200/mt or $620-624/mt ex-works, while medium and small producers are offering at EGP 33,000-36,000/mt ($553-603/mt) ex-works. Although US dollar prices have lost over $50/mt due to the pound’s depreciation, local suppliers have not yet revised their domestic rebar offers. “[There is] good demand at the same price because the market is expecting price increases in the near future,” a local source told SteelOrbis, citing rising costs and war-related issues in the region as the main reasons for the awaited uptrend. Other suppliers report that the market is more or less at a standstill due to the approaching religious holidays, while there is some pressure from the government against the local market leader to withdraw its price increase.
In the billet segment, domestic offers are still mainly at EGP 30,000-31,000/mt ($503-520/mt) ex-works, while import offers from Russia have been reported at $480-490/mt CFR and are not considered workable amid the ongoing safeguard restriction. No solid offers are heard from China due to the situation in the Middle East, while some sources evaluate Chinese indications at $515-520/mt CFR, similar to the offers reported in the Turkish market. Local steel scrap prices in Egypt are at EGP 20,000-22,000/mt ($382-420/mt) DAP depending on the grade, relatively stable over the past week.
Local longs prices in EGP include 14 percent VAT.
$1 = EGP 52.33
