ArabSteel reported that the AISU's Secretary General, Mr Mohamed Laid Lachgar has described admission of big quantities of imported steel into a number of the Arab markets as an importation invasion.

This was said in the speech he delivered in the meetings of the Board of Directors and General Assembly held recently in Tunisia in the period 8-10 June 2009.

He said: "Admission of huge quantities of imports of rebars, especially from Turkey has inflicted a great injury and a great loss to producers, as the reports indicate that the quantities of steel imported during the first quarter of this year represent more than 40% of the local consumption".

He added that "The importation invasion has come to take the form of dumping from some foreign countries which find assistance and support by their governments by following a flexible cash policy allowing exporters to sell in the foreign markets at prices much less than the prices of the local products.”

According to the information available from international sources, the total volume of imports from the world markets to the Middle East countries has dropped to about 6 million tonnes during the first quarter of this year, i.e., less by 24% compared to the same period in 2008. However Turkey remained the largest supplier of steel products to the markets of this region. The volume of its exports during the first four months of this year amounted to 4.2 million tonnes against 2.9 million tonnes in the same period of 2008.

(Sourced from Arab Steel)