Steel price rises in Egypt over November, December

CAIRO – 30 December 2020: The Chamber of Building Materials confirmed Tuesday that the price of a ton of steel rose to LE13,500-13,650 for intermediaries and LE13,800-14,000 for consumers.

Throughout November and December, the price increased gradually by around LE2,500 as the value of raw material has moved upward globally.  

Ahmed al-Zeiny, the chamber's head, added that the prices have not yet been influenced by the construction specifications set by the Cabinet as they have not gone into effect.  

Egypt’s exports of iron, steel, and cement decreased 41.1 percent in the first five months 2020 to $254 million compared to $431 million in the same period of 2019, according to a monthly Export Council for Building Materials report.

The report showed that 64.6 percent of these exports went to Saudi Arabia, Libya, Spain, Kenya, Italy, Sudan, the Netherlands, and the US at a value of $164 million.

From January to May, Egypt's exports of iron and steel went down by 43 percent to reach $207 million compared to $363 million in the same period of 2019.

The report added that iron and steel exports went to 68 countries in 2020. Of these, 16 countries, including Taiwan, Croatia, Gabon, Hong Kong, Mozambique, Georgia, Malta, South Korea, Zambia, Finland, and Niger had not imported Egyptian iron and steel during the same period in 2019.

The cement exports declined by roughly 32 percent during the five months of 2020 to $47 million, compared to $68 million during the same period in 2019.

Egypt exported cement during the mentioned period of 2020 to about 51 countries, including 18 countries who had not imported Egyptian cement in the same quarter in 2019.

Additional reporting by MENA