Egypt to impose 8 pct import tariff on steel rebar - ministry

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will impose an eight percent import tariff on rebar - reinforced steel bars - for three years, the trade ministry said on Sunday, extending temporary tariffs introduced last year to protect the domestic industry. A ministry statement said Egypt would also impose a 20 percent tariff on white sugar for 200 days, following a filing to the World Trade Organization last week in which it sought to safeguard domestic producers from a damaging surge in imports. The tariffs come at a critical time for Egypt's steel industry, which is recovering from four years of political and economic turmoil, and for a global market struggling with low prices and overcapacity due to lacklustre demand. Egyptian steel companies have been further pressured by energy costs and availability in a country where energy shortages have hit output and profitability. Egypt's major steelmakers have petitioned the government to impose anti-dumping measures on rebar and wire rod imports from China, Ukraine and Turkey after energy subsidies were cut last summer. A ministry official told Reuters the tariffs on steel imports would begin on May 2 and those on sugar would start once a notice is published in the official gazette.