A safeguarding investigation into imports of semi-finished iron products, non-alloy steel and steel rebar by Egypt's Ministry of Trade & Industry could lead to a fall in billet, rebar and scrap prices.
Initiated on Tuesday April 2, the investigation is of particular concern to CIS producers as they are they main suppliers of billet Egyptian re-rollers, sources told Fastmarkets on the sidelines of Irepas 80 - the 80th meeting of the International Rebar Exporters & Producers Association - in Barcelona on April 7-9.There is still a lot of uncertainty over the issue, but most market participants agree that tariffs are likely to be implemented and CIS producers will have to cut volumes of billet exports to Egypt and seek opportunities in other markets."This issue will have domino effect: on billet, rebar, and scrap," a Russian billet producer said. "Prices will drop in all sectors.""I guess Egypt will keep buying billet, probably at a lower scale,," a Middle East-based trader told Fastmarkets. "IBut there are around 22 re-rollers in the country that all need billet and local production is not sufficient - as well as being rather expensive compared to prices from the...