In 2019, Belarus-based Byelorussian Steel Works (BMZ) shipped over 427,000 mt of steel products, both longs and billets, to Africa, which was 80.8 percent over the volume in 2018.
The five largest export destinations for BMZ in 2019 were Russia, Germany, Egypt, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Israel. Sales to Africa totalled 14.5 percent of the total shipments of the producer. BMZ sold its products to 16 African countries in 2019, with its first shipments of wire rod recorded to Kenya and Uganda. More than half of total sales to Africa were to Egypt.
The overall situation in the export market was difficult for the producer due to falling longs and billet prices and higher protectionism in the world. In October 2019, the Egyptian authorities finally announced their decision regarding the safeguard case on billet and long steel imports. The Ministry of Industry and Trade disclosed the final rates for billet, rebar and wire rod imports with their gradual reduction within the 2019-22 period. For import billet, the duty was set at 16 percent (or a minimum of $74/mt) until April 11, 2020. In the subsequent two years, the tariff will be reduced to 13 percent. The duty on rebar and wire rod was set at 25 percent for the first six-month period.
In 2019, BMZ exported 2.2 million mt of steel, while crude steel production was 2.6 million mt and output of finished steel was 2.3 million mt.