In the Egyptian rebar market, mills have faced significant difficulty in setting their domestic prices for January, particularly due to the depreciation of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar, which has accelerated this week. Consequently, all major Egyptian mills have increased their domestic rebar prices by a range of EGP 190-385/mt ($30-60/mt).
Following the price adjustment announced by Egypt's largest rebar producer EZZ Steel, other rebar producers have announced their rebar prices for January as well. Accordingly, the rebar price of EZZ Steel is currently standing at EGP 4,400/mt ($687/mt), while Beshay Steel's rebar price is now at EGP 4,550/mt ($710/mt), Elmarakby's rebar price is at EGP 4,500/mt ($702/mt), and the prices of Masr Steel and Suez Steel are both at EGP 4,500/mt ($702/mt), all ex-works and including eight percent taxes.
Market players state that there are two reasons behind the rebar price hikes. The first one is higher raw material and steel billet prices in global markets, while the second reason is the strengthening of the US dollar against the Egyptian pound.
In the meantime, although Egyptian mills state that domestic rebar demand is fairly strong, Egyptian traders do not share this opinion. Traders are anxious due to the imposition of import duty on rebar in December, which has caused a sealing off of their import channels, and they are seeking the cancellation of this duty, as are the countries which export rebar to Egypt.
Although Egyptian rebar mills claim that recent price increases have nothing to do with the import duty, it seems that local Egyptian mills are now in a more advantageous position in their domestic market, as the competition they face is now significantly weaker.