Steel manufacturers eye exports after anti-dumping tariff

CAIRO – 7 June 2017: Local steel producers are looking to seal export deals, benefiting from a temporary anti-dumping tax on rebar steel imports from three countries.

A ,ember of the Metal Industries Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Mohamed El-Garhy, told Egypt Today the decision will allow steel factories to work at full capacity.

Garhy added that steel imports from Turkey, China and Ukraine caused LE 818 million ($45 million) losses to the domestic industry in 2016. Steel imports caused yields on investments to decline by 10.3 percent while the stock levels increased 307 percent, Garhy said.

To protect local manufacturers suffering from losses, Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil imposed a temporary tariff at 17 percent for Chinese steel, 10-19 percent for Turkish steel, and 15-27 percent for Ukrainian steel.

The ministry said the decision followed an investigation that gathered complaints from local manufacturers who could not compete with imported alternatives.

Mohamed El-Zeiny, undersecretary of Parliament’s industry committee, praised the decision in a Wednesday meeting, expecting the move to “revitalize” the local industry. Fellow committee member Ali El-Kayal told Egypt Today the tariff would save the foreign currency “wasted” on steel imports, which he said is already being produced locally .

Rebar and wire rod imports from China, Turkey and Ukraine have always posed a challenge to Egyptian steel producers, who are currently facing hurdles in making profits due to the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November, which caused higher production costs.

In December 2016, an investigation was opened into dumping the market with steel from China, Turkey and Ukraine, and was officially published in the Official Gazette.

The investigation was strongly rejected by the Chamber of Building Materials at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, which represents the steel importers and claimed that imposing anti-dumping fees would eventually harm the end consumer.

Importers were dealing with low-quality steel from China, Turkey and Ukraine, which are highly subsidized in their countries of origin.

Domestic steel manufacturers submitted complaints to the Authority of Anti-Subsidies, Dumping and Prevention in October 2016, stating that imported steel from the aforementioned countries are selling at dumping prices.