Government to auction eight billet licenses this August with 2.8 mn tons of new capacity

The government will auction eight billet-production licenses this August, with a combined annual capacity of 2.8 mn tons, a government official tells EnterpriseAM. The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) is finalizing the tender documents before inviting technical and financial bids. The move aims to deepen local steel production, which rose 10.8% y-o-y to 2.89 mn tons in 1Q 2026, according to World Steel Association data.

REMEMBER- Eight steel companies had applied for licenses before the government froze the licensing process last year to launch a trade-remedy review, which ended with a 13% anti-dumping duty on imported hot- and cold-rolled steel. In February, the government outlined plans to auction eight licenses across different production tiers.

Local steelmaker Ashry Steel Group has earmarked EGP 12 bn to compete for a 1 mn ton-a-year license, mostly poised for exports, Chairman Ayman El Ashry tells EnterpriseAM. El Ashry says that the licensing decision has taken too long and the imminent tender should bring some relief to the market amid what he describes as a widening gap between available supply and rising demand.

Downstream manufacturers feel the squeeze. The shortage is also feeding through to manufacturers of machinery, appliances, and other products that use rolled steel as a key input, Federation of Egyptian Industries’ Engineering Industries Chamber head Mohamed El Mohandes tells us. Local billet prices rose after import duties restricted access to the foreign alternative, creating a problem for downstream manufacturers, El Mohandes notes. The chamber requested a reassessment of the anti-dumping duty, and the government promised to review the duties every three months.

The solution: Launching the new licenses — and moving quickly through the allocation process — should increase supply, revive the market, and help contain the prices of appliances and other manufactured goods that rely on rolled steel, El Mohandes adds.

Heavyweights disagree: The market’s largest player, Ezz Steel, told us last April that there is no shortage and Egypt actually suffers from a supply glut. They argued the country’s total 13.3 mn-ton capacity is more than enough to absorb the roughly 9 mn tons of domestic demand annually, without the need to offer more billet licenses.

What’s next: The final tender documents will set out how the 2.8 mn tons are divided between the eight licenses, the technical and financial requirements for bidders, and the timetable for bringing the new plants online. Companies are expected to begin submitting offers after the planned August launch.