🏭️The government plans to encourage the production of sheet metal through new incentive packages for local manufacturers. Incentives for factories producing cold-rolled, galvanized, and color-coated sheet metal were announced in September and include land granted at competitive prices, flexible payment facilities, soft loans for working capital and production lines, and fast-tracked issuance of operating licenses within just 24 hours.

Local manufacturers will also get first bid in supplying the needs of major national projects, with the goal of localizing the industry, bridging the import gap, and cultivating competition both domestically and internationally. This comes as part of a broader strategy to develop the industrial value chain linked to the iron and steel sector.

The why: Iron, steel, and cold-rolled sheet metal products are the cornerstone of numerous industries — including engineering, home appliances, automotive, motors, transformers — that Egypt seeks to localize and expand to meet domestic demand and boost exports. Expanding local production strengthens the value chain across multiple industries, Metallurgical Industries Chamber head Mohamed Hanafy told EnterpriseAM.

The government has also been intensifying efforts to localize steel production, issuing new licenses for billet production, reallocating surplus supply, and coordinating closely with private-sector companies to formulate a unified industrial policy for the iron industry.

Continued government incentives for manufacturers: President Abdelfattah El Sisi ordered a new package of incentives to support the industrial sector as a whole and speed up the localization of industries. These included new tax exemptions, refunds for part of the value of allocated lands, and an expansion in granting the golden license — a unified approval meant to accelerate projects in priority sectors such as building materials.

The success of this local industrial expansion depends on several factors, including clarity of government policy, speed of decision-making, and “linking investment potential with tangible direct incentives,” Federation of Egyptian Industries board member Mohamed El Bahy told EnterpriseAM. These elements create a truly competitive environment and encourage both local and foreign investors in the long term, he added.

The biggest challenge facing investors is not absence of local demand, but the absence of practical incentives and benefits that support market entry, El Bahy told us. Investment potential must be tied to clear incentives, such as affordable land and competitively priced energy, to make them viable in reality.

What needs to be done: Complimentary licenses and subsidized interest loans top the list of demands from local producers — though the latest incentives have yet to be clarified or discussed with manufacturers. Land-related facilities may mainly benefit new investors, since most local producers already have sufficient land for expansion. It may be worthwhile, however, to offer production licenses at no charge — they currently cost EGP 1k per ton, reaching a total of EGP 300 mn for a license to produce 300k tons — or to provide financing at subsidized interest rates to accelerate expansion and production.

Others think differently: Most manufacturers already have sufficient creditworthiness to obtain bank loans at prevailing interest rates, and may not need credit access facilities themselves, Hanafy told us.

Local manufacturers of metal sheets are also being supported byrecently introducedsafeguard tariffs, with a 11.1% tariff on cold-rolled steel, 12.6% levy on galvanized steel sheets, and 4.9% charge on colored steel sheets coming into effect last month. The decision is meant to protect local industry and encourage domestic production at a time when both Egyptian and foreign players are planning new steel investments in Egypt, a government source told EnterpriseAM.

Chinese and Turkish exporters are still not off the hook over dumping allegations: Exporters of cold-rolled, galvanized, and coated steel sheets from China and Turkey are still awaiting the results of anti-dumping investigations after the Investment Ministry extended its year-long inquiry by another six months. The ministry stressed that the duties are not meant to close the local market to imports, but to ensure fair access that protects both domestic industry and consumers, according to a statement. Certain grades not locally produced but essential to other industries are exempt from temporary duties to avoid harming national production chains.

These protective duties create greater prospects for local manufacturing and reduce dependence on imports, Ashry Steel Chairman Ayman El Ashry told EnterpriseAM. He added that the reciprocal protective measures between Egypt and foreign markets are normal, as Egypt expands domestic production of certain goods while simultaneously increasing exports to key markets — particularly Europe, the US, and Turkey.

How are these duties impacting the prices of the final products? The impact so far has been minimal with no significant effect on consumers, the ministry said in the statement. The imposition of billet import duties came in response to manufacturer demands to protect local production and as a reciprocal response to similar measures by other countries. However, final consumer prices remained stable, with steel prices fixed between EGP 32k–38k per ton, Hanafy told Enterprise.

DATA POINT- Egypt’s imports of hot-rolled sheet metal alone reached USD 540 mn in 2024, and USD 260 mn in 1H 2025, Hanafy said.

What’s next? New investments are expected to be announced in the coming weeks for the production of flat and galvanized sheet metal, after a local manufacturer submitted an official request to the Industry Ministry for production licenses and capacity expansion for other products, a source in the industry told EnterpriseAM. Ashry Steel is also studying the possibility of leveraging the new incentives once they are officially announced and implemented, according to El Ashry.

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