CAIRO: Prices of steel rebars in the Egyptian market recorded a remarkable decline of nearly 10 per cent in the last month Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, when the average prices ranged from LE 2,980 to LE 3,500 per ton. Mohammad Hanafi, general manager of the Mineral Industries Chamber, said on Monday that the decline in the prices of billet, which accounts for 85 per cent of the steel rebars production inputs, has contributed to the drop in prices in addition to the falling demand for steel rebars in the holy month of Ramadan. He added that the slight drop in oil prices recently has had its impact on the prices of commodities such as iron, copper and aluminum. "But we cannot speculate about the prices of steel rebars after the end of Ramadan, as its prices are largely dependant on the international prices of inputs, such as the billet and scrap prices, Hanafi said. Ezz Steel Company controls as much as 62 percent of the local market and the remaining portion is divided over a number of small manufacturers. He ruled out that the drop in prices was a result of anti-trust investigations in the steel rebars market, attributing the decline exclusively to the prices of production inputs. The Ministry of Trade and Industry had in July filed a case with the Anti-Trust & Competition Protection Agency to investigate monopoly claims in the steel rebars and cement markets.
