Official data from the Chamber of Metallurgical Industries of the Federation of Egyptian Industries revealed that total iron exports in the first quarter of this year recorded 355 thousand tons, compared to about 291 thousand tons in the first quarter of 2023.
The president of AlGioshy Steel Company, Tariq Al Gioshy , said that rebar companies are in great need to focus on exports during the current period, with the aim of bringing in hard currency to help them in operations at all levels.
A source at Ezz Steel added that the company seeks to increase its exports during the current year by between 10 and 15% on average, indicating that it is not possible to rely on the results of the first quarter alone to judge the entire year, as global markets are constantly changing.
Ezz Steel is one of the largest steel exporters from Egypt, as the value of its exports of all products during the past year amounted to about $1.5 billion, accounting for about 65% of the total export revenues of the iron and steel sector during the past year.
The source added that Egypt is a new country in the export of rebar, as it began coinciding with the outbreak of the Corona virus Covid-19 in 2020, and before that, exports were limited to sector products only, and work is still underway to improve the situation in the global market.
Egypt exported record quantities of rebar by the end of last year, an increase of 218% to 1.511 million tons of rebar, compared to about 0.475 million tons in the previous year.
Production for export
A source from within the Chamber of Metallurgical Industries said that iron companies have increased their production of rebar since the beginning of the year with the aim of focusing on export.
Rebar production in Egypt increased by 24.3% during the first three months of this year, reaching 2.16 million tons, compared to about 1.74 million tons in the corresponding period last year, according to chamber data.
The first quarter’s production comes close to its highest level in the same comparison period during the last five years, with the highest production reaching 2.2 million tons in the first quarter of 2022, and the lowest being 1.74 million tons in the first quarter of 2023, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt.
Central Bank data showed that the increase in production during the first quarter of 2024 is about 15.5% higher than the average production in the comparison period of the last 5 years (the period between 2019 and 2023).
Imported markets
By the end of last year, five markets importing Egyptian steel accounted for about 60% of the total exports directed to 87 markets around the world, according to data from the Building Materials Export Council.
Spain came at the top of the list of markets importing Egyptian steel at the end of last year, with a 17.5% share of the total value of exports amounting to $2.3 billion, then Turkey with 15%, Italy 12.7%, America 8.4%, and Romania 6.6%.
