Recent data issued by the Egyptian Export Control Authority revealed that Egypt’s iron and steel exports declined by 34%, recording $635 million, in the period from January to November 2019, compared to $968 million in the same period in 2018.
Egyptian export control data revealed a decline in iron and steel exports to the Sudanese market by 26%, recording $47 million, compared to $63 million in the same period in 2018. Exports to Spain also fell by 57%, recording $46 million, compared to $109 million.
Exports to America also fell by 52% to record $39 million, compared to $83 million in the same period in 2018.
The data also revealed a decline in iron and steel exports to Italy by 75%, recording $36 million, compared to $147 million. Exports to Jordan also declined by 10%, recording $26 million, compared to $28 million. Iron exports to Algeria fell by 60%, recording $18 million, compared to $44 million, and Syria by 76%, recording $16 million, compared to $67 million, and Uganda, $11 million. For 12 million dollars.
The steel industry in Egypt suffers from obtaining natural gas at a relatively high price of $5.5 per million thermal units, after reducing this price from $7 per million thermal units in October 2019, as steel companies in Egypt believe that this price is still high and does not achieve competitiveness.
This high price resulted in several challenges for the steel industry sector, including the high cost of natural gas in Egypt, representing 12% of the cost of producing a ton, compared to between 2 and 6% in regionally competitive countries. This is despite the fact that Egyptian factories use the same consumption rate per ton, which is 11-13 million thermal units on average. The price of gas also contributed to placing an additional cost of $40 on average on every ton of rebar produced in Egypt.