Egypt signs order to ban steel billet trading
It was reported that billet trade activities in Egypt will drop because the Egyptian government decided to ban steel billet trading in Egypt after few months of discussions between government agencies, integrated steel producers and independent re-rollers.
This new order forbad traders importing billets into Egypt; however, under this order, independent re-rollers or companies with rolling mills could be allowed to import billets directly. Egyptian government executed provisional import tariffs of rebar from China, Ukraine and Turkey and extended the tariffs for five years at the end of 2017.
The import tariffs could control the rebar imports into Egypt, but local independent re-rollers imported billets to make rebars, and the situation affected the rebar prices.
As a result, the companies asked to raise up the duties for both rebar billets. The requests will increase the costs of the re-rollers in Egypt. The Egyptian government decided to allow re-rollers to import billets which has benefited both parties. This new order was effective from March 4th.
