Iron companies have raised the prices of iron to be sold in February by between LE200 to LE250, after Ezz Steel Company raised the price of one ton of iron by LE230 yesterday. According to the new prices, one ton of iron will now be sold for between LE3400 to LE3500. Meanwhile, iron producers have urged the government to expedite the imposing of protective tolls on iron imports to put an end to the losses of local factories. The Ministry of Trade, on the other hand, said that iron factories should provide documentary evidence of damages incurred. Meanwhile, Beshay Steel Company set the price of one ton of iron at LE3250--up from LE3030 per ton. El-Bahr el-Ahmar Group raised the selling price of iron by LE170, bringing it to LE3200 per ton. Other companies have upped their prices by LE200, and current prices range between LE3180 and LE3225. Observers affirmed that iron traders and distributors countrywide have stored large amounts of iron over the last month--which means that those companies have inventories of iron of a value LE200 lower than the prices announced. Observers also said that considerable amounts of iron had been imported from Turkey, with 200,000 tons arriving last week. Mohamed el-Marakbi, a member of the chamber of metal industries, said that the current increase is in line with international increases in prices. He added that current prices are reasonable given the increase in international prices by US$50 during January. Mohamed Hanafi, head of the metal industries chamber, said that international prices of iron have risen by US$60, though he saw no point in raising local prices since companies already have 200,000 tons of iron in their inventories. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
