Confusion reigned over steel markets as they were waiting for the announcement of February's prices for the rebar delivered by factories. Such announcement is due on Sunday. Meanwhile, the council for the exportation of building materials demanded a study on imported rebar, as its price has remained at LE 3,800 a ton while it does not exceed LE 3,000 abroad. On the markets, many agents stopped receiving rebar from factories for fear that prices might change. An official source at the board of directors of the Chamber of Mining Industries (Federation of Egyptian Industries) said the Ezz Group might temporarily halt production at a flat steel factory in Ein el-Sokhna because of a drop in both domestic and foreign sales. Regarding imported rebar, the executive director of the council for the exportation of building materials, Ahmed Eid, said: "Most importers are companies and this raises many questions about the goal of these imports. Do these factories want to benefit from the difference in cost or dump their products in the local market and then call on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to impose import duties?" Eid said a permission to import rebar was necessary to create some equilibrium on the local market as long as importers conformed to specifications. He called on the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) to intervene and study imported rebar prices and whether there is an agreement among importers to keep prices stable at LE 3,800 a ton. Trader and producer Magdy el-Magharbil, though, affirmed there was no such agreement, saying this was proven by the fact that the price has decreased to LE 3,600. He said demand for rebar has decreased over the past few days due to expectations that prices will go down by between LE 250 and LE 300 a ton. Trader Nabil Abou Shanab said: "I don't think there's an agreement to keep prices stable or increase them, as production costs are different and importers are strong competitors to local producers." Rafik el-Dao, vice-chairman of the Red Sea Group for Rebar and Steel, called on the government to impose import fees on Turkish rebar. He said he would give to official bodies some documents affirming that Turkish rebar reaches the markets at less than the sale price on local markets.
