A boom in Egypt's exports of building materials...and manufacturers explain...
Egypt’s exports of building materials grew by 36% during the first 5 months of 2022 to record $3.2 billion, compared to $2.3 billion during the same period last year.Manufacturers attributed the reasons for the Egyptian exports boom to the low exchange rate of the pound against the dollar, which contributed to an increase in the competitiveness of Egyptian products in export markets, and the replacement of Egyptian products for Chinese in some markets as a result of the latter’s continued impact on the emerging Corona virus pandemic, which caused the disruption of its factories.According to data from the Export Council for Building Materials and Metal Industries, iron and steel exports amounted to 667 million dollars during the period from January to May 2022, compared to 597 million dollars during the same period last year, with a growth rate of 12%, and gold and jewelry exports recorded And precious stones grew by 86% to record 766 million dollars during the first 5 months of this year.Walid Gamal El-Din, Head of the Export Council for Building Materials, Refractories and Metal Industries, said that the low exchange rate of the pound against the dollar is the most prominent factor behind the increase in the volume of Egypt’s exports of building materials during the first 5 months of this year, explaining that the decline in the price of the pound contributed to an increase in the competitiveness of products. Egyptian products compared to competing products, which allowed them to be exported to many markets.The exchange rate of the pound fell against the dollar on March 21, coinciding with an exceptional meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt, which decided at that time to increase the interest rate by 100 basis points. The exchange rate of the pound against the dollar at the Central Bank reached 18.86 pounds for purchase, and 18.97 pounds for sale. session on Wednesday.Gamal El-Din added, in exclusive statements to CNN in Arabic, that there is another factor behind the increase in Egyptian exports in general, which is the continued influence of China by the pandemic of the emerging Corona virus, which led to the continued suspension of some of its factories, which provided the opportunity for Egyptian factories to replace them in some neighboring markets. Especially since the cost of shipping from China increased 15 times, which negatively affected its competitiveness against Egyptian products.Egyptian merchandise exports achieved the highest value in their history in 2021, amounting to more than 32 billion dollars, with a growth rate of 26%, according to government data.Walid Gamal El-Din expected the continuation of the growth path of Egyptian exports of building materials until the end of this year due to the continuation of the same factors that led to an increase in the competitiveness of Egyptian products, referring to the most prominent Egyptian products that witnessed a growth in the volume of exports, which is cement, which rose by a good rate as a result of the improvement in contracting activity in Some neighboring countries such as Libya, as well as metal products such as metal beams and iron parts, especially for the markets of the European Union countries, which in the past depended on the Chinese market to import these products, and European markets turned to rely on Egyptian products because of their low prices.The head of the Export Council for Building Materials pointed out that the Egyptian products succeeded in reaching new markets as well as increasing the volume of their exports to existing markets, most notably Libya, which witnessed a growth in the volume of contracting, and West African countries, most notably Nigeria and Ghana, noting the varying impact of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on the building materials sector. It was positively affected by the suspension of Egypt’s import of Ukrainian iron, while it was negatively affected at the beginning of the crisis by the difficulty of providing some raw materials, which affected the volume of production.
Dr. Kamal El-Desouky, a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said that the Federation is working on a plan to increase exports, starting with facilitating procedures for importing production requirements to ensure the operation of factories and increasing the volume of production to meet the requirements of the local market and exporting the surplus abroad. The Federation also provides technical support for factories to obtain accreditation certificates. To open new markets for Egyptian products, in addition to encouraging participation in foreign exhibitions to promote Egyptian products, and providing the necessary technical support to obtain export support.According to an official statement by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohamed Maait, the ministry has spent 35 billion pounds for exporting companies from overdue export support dues during the period from October 2019 until this month.Al-Desouki added, in exclusive statements to CNN in Arabic, that there are challenges facing the building materials industry, cooperation is underway between the Federation of Industries and the government to work on solving them to ensure continued production and export growth, most notably environmental and logistical challenges and the high cost of shipping, in addition to facing dumping attempts from some products, pointing out He pointed out that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis had more positive results for Egyptian products by opening the door for them to reach new markets such as some European countries and African markets.Ahmed Abdel Hamid, head of the Building Materials Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said that there are many neighboring markets that have become dependent on Egyptian products of building materials as an alternative to the Chinese after stopping the trade movement due to the impact of China on the emerging Corona virus pandemic, adding that the chamber is working on two axes to develop the building materials industry; The first is to solve the members’ problems with the government, and secondly, to provide technical services to open new markets for Egyptian products and to participate in foreign exhibitions in cooperation with the Export Council.In exclusive statements to CNN in Arabic, Abdel Hamid believes that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis did not significantly affect the increase in Egyptian exports, because most building materials products are exported to markets geographically adjacent to Egypt, while the crisis negatively affected the increase in oil and shipping prices.
