George Matta, head of the Economic Committee of the Arab Steel Union and head of the marketing sector at Ezz Group, confirmed that Egypt is the largest producer and consumer of steel in the Arab region and North Africa, and that it leads economic growth in the Arab region, noting that the growth rate reached about 5.6% in 2019, Growth rates are expected to reach 5.8% next year.
George Matta also pointed out during the Arab Steel Summit, which was recently held in Tunis, that the sectors of tourism, wholesale and retail trade, real estate, and construction are the main drivers of growth, along with the rise in exports of goods and services in conjunction with the decline in oil imports.
The head of the Economic Committee of the Arab Steel Union indicated that the private sector investments also witnessed a recovery at a time when the steel markets witnessed a stagnation, as the stock rose to its highest levels as a result of the drop in dumped import prices and the decrease in liquidity, which negatively affected the integrated industry locally and led to a market downturn. steel
During the first half of this year, it increased by 6% compared to 2018.
The head of the Economic Committee of the Arab Steel Union indicated during a working paper that he delivered at the Arab Steel Summit that was held recently in Tunisia with the participation of the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and major Arab companies and foreign experts in the steel sector that the decision taken by the Egyptian government regarding the imposition of protectionist fees on imported steel and billet, in addition to reducing the price of gas From 7 dollars per million British thermal units to 5.5 dollars, it contributed significantly to the improvement in the volume of demand and the decrease in the stockpile to its lowest levels, which indicates that the volume of consumption is expected to reach 9.9 million tons during the next year 2020, with a growth rate of 4%, with an increase of about Half a million tons for the year 2019
Motivated by new investments and major national projects implemented by the Egyptian government.
Regarding the Middle East and North Africa region, the head of the Economic Committee stressed that the Middle East and North Africa is expected to record a GDP growth of 0.6 percent by the end of this year, and that this rate will rise next year to 2.6 percent next year. The committee noted the importance of introducing reforms to consolidate fair competition and promote inclusive growth, after political turmoil in some Arab countries, including Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, caused a noticeable decline in economic growth rates.
The head of the Economic Committee, George Matta, confirmed that the volume of demand for steel products in 2018 suffered from a contraction, as it was estimated at 43 million tons, with a contraction of 0.8%. George Matta expected that the volume of steel consumption in the Middle East and North Africa will reach about 40 million tons by the end of this year, with an estimated contraction of 7% compared to last year, as a result of the decline in demand in most Arab countries.
