By: Abdullah Bedeir

Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s minister of trade and industry Amr Nassar has issued a decree to amend the regulations of the law governing the import and export of conditioned commodities, including iron billets. The decision is no. 186 of 2019.

Iron billets are a major component in the manufacture of enforced steel.

This decision will prevent individual traders from importing iron billets, head of the Chamber of Metallurgical Industries at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Mohamed Hanafy told Mubasher.

He added that the chamber had submitted a proposal to the government that only iron and steel plants would be allowed to import iron billets.

Iron billets are exempt from customs and duties, Hanafy explained, noting that traders’ continued imports therefore take away the government’s right in collecting the value-added tax (VAT) and commercial profits.

In January, Hassan El Marakby, CEO of El Marakby for Steel, warned that Egyptian iron billets plants would shut down if the government continues to allow excessive imports at significantly cheap prices.

El Marakby told Reuters that 2018 was one of the toughest years for the iron and steel industries, indicating that many iron and steel firms in the country had suffered problems in their balance sheets during that year.

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi