Egypt Receives 2.5 Million Tons of Turkish Steel

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Egypt is one of the fastest-growing markets for steel consumption in the world. The country's steel consumption jumped from 5.4 million tons in 2008 to 7.2 million tons in 2009, said Alaa Abulkhair, president of the metallurgical industries chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries.

Government stimulus programs, with their focus on infrastructure and construction, will help sustain the growth in Egyptian steel consumption. This will primarily benefit cheaper foreign producers, while domestic producers will see sales stagnate or decline.

Abulkhair added that, in the past year, Egypt had 2.5 million tons of Turkish steel, which represents half the volume of local production, enter the country. The Turkish steel has a value of approximately $1.5 billion.

A study release by the International Iron and Steel Institute (Cape Town, South Africa) reports that Egypt is likely to consolidate its position as Africa's largest steel consumer, with finished steel demand expected to be between 7.5 million and 8.5 million tons in 2013

Abulkhair said that complaints have been filed with the Egypt Ministry of Commerce in order to take actions protecting Egypt's steel industry.

Ministry of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohammed Rashid announced that the ministry would take strong and decisive action against any countries found to be dumping steel into the Egyptian market, but at the same time, the ministry is keen to allow Egyptian consumers to benefit from lower global steel prices.

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