Egypt Steel Profile
Egypt is Africa's largest steel producer and one of the Middle East's most significant steel markets — a position built almost entirely on EAF steelmaking, a large domestic scrap base, and abundant natural gas. The industry is dominated by long products — rebar and sections — which underpin an ambitious national infrastructure and construction programme. Yet the sector faces structural headwinds: chronic overcapacity, currency pressures, rising energy costs, scrap import dependency, and intensifying competition from imports. This page provides an independent assessment covering facilities, logistics, scrap flows, ownership, resources, distribution, and the structural issues shaping Egypt's steel future.
Analysis by Dr Andrzej M Kotas, independent steel industry advisor with 30+ years of advisory experience across 20+ countries.
🏭 Overview of the Egyptian Steel Industry
Role of Steel in the Egyptian Economy
Steel is fundamental to Egypt's economic development agenda. Construction — residential, commercial, and infrastructure — is overwhelmingly the primary end-use sector, with rebar accounting for the vast majority of domestic output. The government's large-scale programmes — new administrative capitals, the Suez Canal Corridor, road and rail expansion, social housing, and energy projects — create sustained baseline demand, providing a degree of structural insulation from cyclical swings.[1]
The industry makes a significant contribution to Egyptian GDP and industrial employment. As Africa's largest steel producer, Egypt is a regional benchmark — its price levels, scrap procurement, and trade flows have outsized influence on neighbouring markets in North Africa and the Levant. The sector is also deeply integrated into Egypt's energy economy: natural gas-powered DRI plants and EAFs account for a substantial share of industrial gas and electricity consumption.
Production Output & Employment
Egypt produced approximately 10.7 Mt of crude steel in 2024, though output has fluctuated significantly with currency shocks, energy availability, and demand cycles. Installed capacity is estimated at around 20 Mt/yr — implying a chronic utilisation rate below 55%. Of this installed base, the Egyptian Armed Forces (via NSPO) own MISR/Solb Misr (~2.1 Mt/yr crude), Saudi interests own Alexandria National Steel (~2 Mt/yr), and Egyptian Steel Group is state-linked via the Industrial Investment Company (~2.3 Mt/yr). Egyptian Iron & Steel (Hadisolb) — formerly a key state-owned plant at Helwan — entered liquidation in January 2021 and currently contributes zero output.[2] Production is almost entirely EAF-based, with a significant DRI–EAF component.
Direct employment in the steel sector is estimated at 30,000–40,000, with substantially more in the upstream scrap collection chain, downstream fabrication, and construction supply. Regional concentration is significant — Alexandria, the Suez Canal industrial zones (particularly 10th of Ramadan City and Ain Sokhna), and the Delta corridor account for the majority of capacity.
📊 Market
Consumption
Apparent steel use was approximately 9.3 Mt in 2024 (Worldsteel), down from a peak of around 11 Mt in 2021–22 — reflecting the severe impact of successive Egyptian Pound devaluations on construction activity and import affordability. Long products — principally rebar — constitute 70–75% of domestic consumption, with construction and government infrastructure programmes the dominant demand drivers. Demand is expected to recover gradually as macroeconomic stabilisation takes hold and the New Administrative Capital project reaches its peak construction phase.[3]
Trade
Egypt is broadly self-sufficient in long products but a significant importer of flat products — coils, plate, and tinplate — for its automotive, white goods, packaging, and manufacturing sectors. Flat product imports come primarily from Turkey, Ukraine, China, and the Gulf. Egypt occasionally exports rebar into regional markets (Libya, Sudan, East Africa, the Levant) when domestic demand softens, though export competitiveness is sensitive to exchange rate movements. Import safeguard measures have been applied periodically to protect domestic producers from low-cost Asian imports.[4]
🏗️ Main Plants & Facilities
Egypt's steelmaking base is dominated by EAF producers, with most major plants located in the Greater Alexandria area, the 10th of Ramadan City industrial zone, and the Suez Canal industrial corridor.
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| Plant | Location | Process | DRI cap. (Mt/yr) | Crude cap. (Mt/yr) | Main Products | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ezz Steel — Alexandria & 10th of RamadanDominant integrated DRI–EAF complex at Alexandria (Dekheila); scrap EAF at 10th of Ramadan City. Also operates flat product rolling. | Alexandria; 10th of Ramadan | DRI–EAF | 4.5 | 4.2 | Rebar, wire rod, sections, flat products | Ezz family (private) |
| MISR Steel / Solb Misr (Suez Steel)Integrated DRI–EAF at Ain Sokhna/Suez; one of the largest DRI complexes in Africa. Owned by the Egyptian Armed Forces via NSPO. | Ain Sokhna / Suez | DRI–EAF | 2.1 | 2.1 | Rebar, wire rod, billets | Egyptian Armed Forces (NSPO) |
| Egyptian Steel GroupMulti-site group: Beni Suef, Ain Sokhna, Alexandria, Port Said. State-owned via Industrial Investment Company. | Multiple sites | EAF | — | 2.3 | Rebar, wire rod | Egyptian Gov (Industrial Investment Co.) |
| Alexandria National Steel (Dikheila)Integrated DRI–EAF; one of Egypt's most modern plants. Saudi-majority-owned via Hadeed/SABIC. | Alexandria (Dikheila) | DRI–EAF | ~1.5 | ~2.0 | Rebar, wire rod | Alexandria National Steel (Saudi/SABIC majority) |
| Beshay Steel — ESISCoRecently completed 2.0 Mt/yr Midrex DRI facility with 2G-HOTLINK® direct feed to EAF. Largest privately-owned steel group in Egypt and the Middle East. | Ain Sokhna / Suez | DRI–EAF | 1.8 | 2.5 | Rebar, wire rod, light sections, billets | Beshay family (private) |
| El Marakby SteelMid-size private EAF producer. | Various | EAF | — | 0.5 | Rebar, billets | Private |
| Egyptian Iron & Steel (Hadisolb)⚠️ In liquidation since January 2021. All production halted. Partial restart under government study as of August 2025 — no timeline confirmed. | Helwan, Cairo | BF–BOF (idle) | — | 0 | None (idle) | In liquidation (formerly EHCMI) |
Capacities are approximate nominal figures (Mt/yr). DRI cap. = direct reduction capacity; Crude = liquid steel capacity. Producers below 0.5 Mt/yr crude are omitted. Hadisolb shown at zero — in liquidation since January 2021. Sources: Arab Iron & Steel Union (AISU), Worldsteel, company reports. Data correct to Q1 2026; subject to revision. For full plant-level capacity data see our Steel Plant Capacity Database.
📐 Planned Investments
Egypt's steel investment landscape is shaped by the government's drive to increase value-added production, reduce flat product import dependency, and modernise older plants — while the private sector remains cautious in the face of currency risk and low utilisation rates.
Flat Product Complex — Suez Canal Zone
Investor: Government / potential foreign JV partners | Value: Est. $2–3Bn
Status: Under study / seeking investors. A strategic priority to reduce flat product imports — Egypt currently imports most of its coil, plate, and tinplate requirements. Multiple feasibility rounds have been conducted; a DRI-EAF-hot strip mill configuration is favoured. Site infrastructure in the Ain Sokhna industrial zone has been partially prepared.[5]
Hadisolb — Partial Restart Study
Investor: Egyptian government
Status: Egyptian Iron & Steel (Hadisolb) was placed into liquidation in January 2021 following losses of approximately $450 million. All blast furnace and BOF operations were halted and a liquidator appointed. In August 2025, the Industry Ministry announced it was studying a partial restart of some units, with a focus on producing steel slabs using locally sourced iron ore. No timeline, financing plan, or confirmed capex figure has been published. The remaining site land is reportedly being considered for alternative industrial uses including textiles.[6]
Beshay Steel — DRI & EAF Expansion (Completed)
Investor: Beshay Steel (private — Beshay family)
Status: Beshay has recently completed its largest expansion to date: a 2.0 Mt/yr Midrex DRI facility at Ain Sokhna featuring the first-ever 2G-HOTLINK® installation, in which hot DRI is fed directly to an SVMT EAF melt shop (1.5 Mt/yr). Two SVMT EAF melt shops give a combined liquid steel capacity of approximately 3.0 Mt/yr, with a Danieli light sections mill (0.5 Mt/yr) also commissioned. Total group liquid steel capacity is now approximately 2.5 Mt/yr crude, with DRI at 1.8 Mt/yr. Product range remains long products — rebar, wire rod, light sections, billets — with no flat product capacity.
Kandil Steel — Flat Product Capacity
Investor: Kandil family / JFE Steel (Japan) / Marubeni-Itochu
Status: Kandil Steel is one of the few Egyptian steel facilities with international Japanese shareholding — JFE Steel and Marubeni-Itochu hold stakes alongside the founding Kandil family. The plant operates approximately 0.5 Mt/yr of flat product rolling and galvanising capacity, making it one of very few domestically-based flat product processors. Product range includes galvanised sheet, cold rolled strip, and related flat products serving packaging, white goods, and light engineering sectors.
⚓ Logistics & Ports
Steel logistics in Egypt centres on two principal flows: inbound ferrous scrap imports (historically one of the world's largest seaborne scrap import programmes, though volumes have been significantly compressed by currency devaluations since 2016) and outbound finished long products to regional export markets. Egypt's geography — with major steel capacity straddling the Mediterranean coast (Alexandria) and the Red Sea/Gulf of Suez (Ain Sokhna, Suez) — means that port access is a key strategic asset for the industry. For international freight cost context see our Steel Freight Cost Assessments.
Egypt's largest port complex by total throughput. Dekheila port — immediately adjacent to the Alexandria National Steel and Ezz Steel complexes — is the primary entry point for ferrous scrap and DRI pellet imports, as well as the main export terminal for finished long products. Handles Panamax and Handymax bulk carriers.
A deep-water industrial port on the Gulf of Suez, approximately 45 km south of Suez City, serving the Ain Sokhna Special Economic Zone. Primary logistics hub for Beshay Steel and other Suez corridor producers. Handles scrap imports from the Gulf and East Africa, and finished product exports to Red Sea markets and the Arabian Peninsula.
Handles a proportion of scrap inflows and steel exports transiting the Suez Canal corridor. Its position at the junction of Red Sea and Mediterranean trade routes makes it a staging point for regional steel trade, including flat product coil imports from Asia and Turkey.
Located at the Mediterranean entrance to the Suez Canal. Port Said East (East Port Said Container Terminal) handles containerised steel products and some breakbulk. The port serves as a transit and transshipment hub for steel moving between Europe and Asia.
🏢 Ownership
Egypt's steel industry spans private family ownership, Egyptian Armed Forces interests, state-linked holding companies, and foreign strategic investors. The private sector — led by Ezz Steel and Beshay Steel — accounts for the majority of active output. The Armed Forces (via NSPO) own the MISR/Solb Misr complex, making the military a significant industrial player in this sector. The formerly state-owned Hadisolb complex entered liquidation in 2021 and is currently inactive.
⚙️ Resources: Raw Materials & Energy
🪨 Raw Materials
Egypt has no significant domestic iron ore deposits suitable for DRI use at scale. DRI processes (Midrex, HYL/Energiron) require high-grade iron ore pellets — typically ≥67% Fe with very low gangue content. Medium- or low-grade ore is not suitable without beneficiation and pelletisation infrastructure that does not exist in Egypt at commercial scale. Egypt's own iron ore deposits (principally Bahariya Oasis, running ~45–50% Fe) therefore cannot be fed directly into DRI plants, effectively restricting pellet sourcing to a narrow group of specialist high-grade producers — principally in Brazil (Vale, Samarco), the Gulf (Bahrain Steel), and Scandinavia. Iron ore pellets and lump for DRI production are imported almost entirely from these sources.[7]
Ferrous scrap is the other critical raw material. Egypt's domestic scrap generation (~2–3 Mt/yr) falls well short of theoretical EAF demand (~7–9 Mt/yr at full utilisation), making Egypt structurally dependent on seaborne scrap imports. However, actual import volumes have been significantly suppressed by Egyptian Pound devaluations (2016, 2022–23): in 2024, Egypt imported approximately 2–4 Mt of ferrous scrap — well below the levels of earlier years when the currency was stronger. The EU alone exported approximately 1.6 Mt to Egypt in 2024. Scrap prices are therefore a dominant factor in Egyptian steel production economics.
⚡ Energy & Gas Subsidies
Natural gas is Egypt's primary industrial energy input for DRI-based steelmaking. Historically, government-subsidised industrial gas prices were a genuine competitive advantage for Egyptian DRI producers — a factor that attracted investment in gas-based steelmaking through the 1990s and 2000s. Subsidised gas underpinned the entire DRI–EAF business model in Egypt during that period.[8]
Current position: Under successive IMF programme conditions since 2016, industrial gas tariffs have been progressively raised toward cost-recovery levels. The government does not subsidise gas for value-added industries (including steel) in the traditional sense; instead it sells gas at a government-set unified tariff, reviewed periodically.
These tariffs are no longer materially below cost, and steel and cement producers were among the sectors receiving a fixed $1/MMBtu increase in early 2026 as Egypt moves toward a flexible, market-linked industrial gas pricing model with quarterly reviews. Full subsidy elimination at the retail and industrial level is targeted by end-2025/2026 under Egypt's $8 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility. New capacity receives no subsidised gas guarantee.
Electricity tariff increases have similarly raised EAF operating costs. Electricity reliability remains a challenge — load-shedding episodes (notably 2013–2015, with periodic recurrences) have disrupted melt shop operations. Egypt's growing renewable energy capacity (wind in the Suez Gulf corridor; solar in Upper Egypt) offers a longer-term path to lower-cost, lower-carbon electricity for EAF steelmaking.
Electricity reliability remains a challenge for EAF operators — load shedding and grid instability episodes (notably 2013–2015 and periodic recurrences) have disrupted melt shop operations. Industrial electricity tariff increases, part of broader energy subsidy reform, have raised EAF operating costs. Egypt's growing renewable energy capacity (wind — Suez corridor; solar — Aswan) offers a longer-term path to lower-cost, lower-carbon electricity for EAF steelmaking.
♻️ Scrap
Scrap is the central challenge of Egyptian steelmaking economics. The country's EAF-dominated sector requires far more scrap than it generates domestically, creating a structural import dependency and exposing producers to international price volatility — particularly the Turkish deep-sea scrap market, which sets the global seaborne benchmark.
Domestic Collection
Egypt generates approximately 2–3 Mt of ferrous scrap annually from demolition, manufacturing, and end-of-life vehicles. The informal collection and processing sector is large and fragmented — hundreds of small dealers and processors operate across Cairo, Alexandria, and the Delta, often in informal industrial areas. Formal-sector consolidation is limited.
Imports
Egypt's seaborne scrap imports have been severely compressed by the Egyptian Pound devaluations of 2016 and 2022–23, which dramatically raised the EGP cost of USD-priced imports. In 2024, Egypt imported approximately 2–4 Mt of ferrous scrap — a sharp decline from the 5–7 Mt levels of pre-crisis years. The EU was the largest single source (approximately 1.6 Mt in 2024), followed by the US and UK.
Egypt's share of global seaborne scrap trade has fallen materially as a result, and the country is no longer consistently ranked among the world's top five scrap importers. A recovery in import volumes depends on currency stabilisation and a revival of construction-sector demand. The Dekheila and Ain Sokhna terminals are the principal import points.[9]
Exports
Egypt is not a structural scrap exporter. Occasional small export volumes arise when domestic oversupply or grade mismatches occur. The government has periodically imposed scrap export restrictions to protect domestic EAF supply.
Consumption
EAF scrap consumption runs at approximately 3–6 Mt/yr depending on capacity utilisation and the availability of affordable imported scrap — significantly below the theoretical maximum of 7–9 Mt/yr if all capacity ran at full utilisation. The 2022–23 currency crisis severely compressed scrap procurement; consumption has been recovering gradually as the currency stabilises. Ezz Steel and Alexandria National Steel are the largest single consumers. DRI-based producers partially substitute scrap with iron ore pellet-derived DRI, providing some flexibility in charge mix.
Scrap Processing & Handling
Domestic Processors
The domestic scrap processing sector is highly fragmented. A small number of semi-integrated processors operate shredders and preparation yards — particularly around the Cairo/Helwan and Alexandria industrial corridors. There is no Egyptian equivalent of the major integrated scrap groups found in Western Europe or the US. Most processors are small family businesses supplying locally.
Fragmented sectorInformalImport Traders
International scrap trading groups — including global commodity traders and specialist ferrous scrap brokers — supply the Egyptian market. European origin scrap (UK, Germany, Netherlands) and US East Coast shredded are the preferred grades. Turkish dealers also act as intermediaries, re-exporting processed scrap to Egypt.
International sourcingUSD-denominatedEgyptian scrap prices track the Turkish import parity benchmark with a local adjustment for freight, quality grade, and currency. Import parity pricing means Egyptian EAF producers have limited ability to influence their key input cost.[9]
🚚 Distribution
Steel distribution in Egypt is dominated by producer-direct sales and a large, fragmented merchant sector. Unlike Western European markets, there is no well-developed service centre sector offering value-added processing (slitting, cut-to-length, blanking) at scale. Most long product distribution is transactional — merchants buy mill output and sell on to construction contractors, fabricators, and project buyers with minimal processing.
Ezz Steel Distribution
Ezz Steel operates its own direct sales network, the largest in the Egyptian market. Regional distribution depots in Cairo, Alexandria, and key Delta cities allow direct supply to large construction contractors and project buyers. Ezz brand rebar commands a price premium in the market on the basis of consistency and availability.
Direct salesNational networkIndependent Merchants & Traders
A large number of independent steel trading companies and merchants operate across Egypt — particularly in Cairo's traditional steel trading districts (Shubra El Kheima, 10th of Ramadan) and Alexandria. These merchants provide credit and inventory-holding functions that the mills prefer not to carry, and serve the large number of small and medium construction contractors who cannot buy direct from producers.
FragmentedCredit-based tradingFlat Product Importers
Flat product distribution — coil, plate, cold rolled, galvanised, tinplate — is handled by specialist importing companies, many based in the Alexandria Free Zone and the Suez Canal zone. Major Turkish, Chinese, and Ukrainian mills maintain agency relationships with Egyptian flat product distributors. The sector is sensitive to EGP/USD movements and import duty changes.
Import-dependentFlat productsThere is no national industry association for steel distribution in Egypt comparable to the UK's NASS. The Egyptian Steel Industries Association (ESIA) represents producers; downstream distribution is largely unorganised at the trade association level.
⚠️ Issues
Egypt's installed steel capacity (~20 Mt/yr) is roughly double actual output (~10.7 Mt in 2024). This structural overcapacity depresses margins, prevents producers from achieving minimum efficient scale, and creates a fragmented industry where few players can invest in modernisation. New capacity additions over the past two decades outpaced demand growth — a pattern common across developing markets in the 2000s–2010s.[2]
Consolidation is politically difficult in a sector employing tens of thousands and characterised by strong private family ownership interests.
See also: The Overcapacity Trap: Barriers to Entry and Exit in Steel | Do Developing Economies Need Steel?
Egyptian Pound devaluations — most severely in 2016 (50% depreciation) and 2022–2023 (a further ~50% cumulative loss) — have fundamentally disrupted industry economics. Since key inputs (scrap, iron ore pellets, DRI pellets, refractories, electrodes, alloys) are priced in USD and output is sold in EGP, producers face a structural currency mismatch.[3]
Export orientation partially hedges this risk — export revenues in USD offset USD-denominated input costs — but the domestic market focus of most producers limits this naturally.
Despite Ezz Steel operating approximately 3.2 Mt/yr of flat product rolling capacity and Kandil Steel adding ~0.5 Mt/yr, Egypt still imports a substantial share of its flat steel requirements — particularly HRC, cold rolled, galvanised, tinplate, and heavy plate — at an annual cost of several billion USD. Domestic flat rolling capacity relies largely on imported slab feedstock, and there is no integrated flat product route (iron ore → slab → coil) in Egypt.[5]
Establishing a fully integrated domestic flat products complex remains a stated government priority. Multiple feasibility rounds have been conducted for a DRI-EAF-hot strip mill configuration in the Ain Sokhna zone; estimated capex is $2–4 Bn. No major commitment has materialised as of Q1 2026.
Egypt's DRI-based producers historically benefited from government-subsidised natural gas — a deliberate industrial policy that underpinned investment in the DRI–EAF route from the 1990s onward. The gas shortages of 2013–2016, when gas was diverted from industry to residential users, severely curtailed DRI output and forced producers to substitute expensive imported scrap, demonstrating the vulnerability of the model.[7]
Under the IMF's $8 billion Extended Fund Facility (2024–2026), Egypt has committed to full energy subsidy elimination by end-2025/2026. Industrial gas tariffs for steel and cement producers were raised by $1/MMBtu in early 2026, and a shift to quarterly market-linked pricing is underway. New capacity receives no subsidised gas guarantee. This structural transition materially changes the long-run economics of gas-based DRI steelmaking in Egypt.
Egyptian long product producers face recurrent import competition — particularly from Chinese and Turkish producers whose costs or currency movements periodically make imports cheaper than domestic production. Safeguard measures and anti-dumping duties have been applied, but enforcement and the WTO framework constrain the scope of protection available.[4]
While Egypt has made international climate commitments, decarbonisation of the steel sector is not a near-term priority compared to growth, employment, and energy security objectives. The EU's CBAM poses a longer-term threat to Egyptian steel exports to Europe, as the carbon intensity of EAF production powered by fossil-fuel electricity and gas-based DRI will attract a carbon levy.[10]
Egypt's expanding renewable energy capacity — particularly wind in the Suez Gulf corridor and solar in Upper Egypt — offers a pathway to greener electricity for EAF steelmaking over the medium term.
See also: Two Worlds: Carbon Pricing Splits the Steel Industry | Do Developing Economies Need Steel?
📚 Sources & Further Reading
Authoritative sources underpinning the data and analysis on this page.
World Steel Association
- World Steel in Figures — annual production & trade data
- Monthly crude steel statistics
CAPMAS — Egypt Statistics
- Industrial production and foreign trade data
- Employment statistics by sector
Egyptian Ministry of Trade & Industry
- Industrial development strategy documents
- Foreign investment framework — steel sector
- Trade policy and safeguard measure updates
Egyptian Steel Industries Association (ESIA)
- Industry output and capacity statistics
- Trade and pricing data
Arab Iron & Steel Union (AISU)
- Regional steel production and capacity statistics
- Arab steel trade and market data
- Annual Arab Steel Conference proceedings
References
- World Steel Association (2025): World Steel in Figures 2025 — Egypt production and trade data
- Arab Iron & Steel Union (AISU): Arab Steel Report — Egypt plant capacity and production data
- IMF / World Bank: Egypt Article IV Consultation Reports (various years) — macroeconomic context, currency devaluation impact on industry
- Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry: Safeguard and anti-dumping measure notifications, WTO database
- Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone): Investment prospectus — metals and steel
- Egyptian Iron & Steel Company (Hadisolb): Company reports and EHCMI annual publications
- International Energy Agency (IEA): Egypt energy profile — natural gas production and industrial allocation data
- Egypt Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS): Industrial gas tariff schedules and supply data
- Fastmarkets / Platts: Ferrous scrap import data — Egypt deep-sea purchases 2023–2025
- European Commission: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) — implementation and third-country impact
How to Cite This Page
Kotas, A.M. (2026) 'Egypt Steel Industry: Facilities, Resources & Analysis', SteelOnTheNet. Available at: https://www.steelonthenet.com/resources/countries/egypt.html (Accessed: 6th October 2026).
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