Egypt hopes to contain cement, steel prices

In an attempt to contain a surge in local cement and steel prices caused by a surging export market, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) issued a decree at the end of February imposing new duties on the products. One of the measures raised export duties on cement by $11.50 per ton and on steel by just over $28 per ton. At the start of April, the export duties on steel were raised almost $32 per ton. As a result, the price per ton of cement fell from $67.37 to $60.28 on the local market and that of steel from $656 to $594. In the days following the announcement, the price of both commodities dropped on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges (CASE), but rebounded a week later. The new export duties motivated the Egyptian Holding Company for Metallurgical Industries to extend by two weeks its period for accepting