The Daily News reported that Egyptian ministry of trade and industry cancelled the protective taxes on cold rolled, galvanized and color coated sheets. The taxes had been put into effect on February 15.

In a release sent to local press in Egypt, the minister said the government will support the local producers by paying 15% of their re rolling or coating costs.

The tax was USD 150 per tonne for cold rolled sheet, USD 200 per tonne for galvanized sheet and USD 250 per tonne for color coated sheets; or 10% of the invoice. The tax was not an import duty, so would be also applied on steel imported from Arabian countries and Turkey, with which Egypt has free trade agreement.

The government will, instead of tax on imported sheets, pay up to 15% of production cost. This will also encourage export of Egyptian steel sheets, and support the end users of this material, especially home appliances producers.

Egyptian traders tell that the tax was not applied properly, because it did not include coils. They said that “The taxes were not the only reason of low demand it is the financial crunch and expectation of lower prices.