Al Jazeera Steel Products Co said it, along with other steel companies in Oman, is working with the government authorities in Oman and GCC to provide adequate support to the domestic steel industry.
The company said it expects regional governments to take ‘serious measures’ to stop the dumping of steel products from subsidised or government supported international competitors.
‘Without these measures the regional steel industries will be at risk from unfair competition. We encourage regional governments to take a more pragmatic and proactive approach to defend the local industries from unfair competition or practices’, Al Jazeera Steel said in its yearly report released last week.
The company also noted that the issues faced by Turkey in terms of domestic demand and currency depreciation could place undue stress in terms of low priced Turkish exports into the GCC region. Turkey is a major exporter of long steel products into the region. ‘This is expected to result in increased long product exports to the GCC markets and put pressure on steel producers’ margins in the region’, Al Jazeera Steel said.
The steel manufacturing industry in UAE is also seeking further support to prevent dumping of cheap steel imports in the country, according to recent UAE media reports.
Al Jazeera Steel said low oil prices and ensuing tight budget position of the GCC governments put a lot of pressure on liquidity and payment cycles in the steel industry and the economy as a whole. The company said it will continue to focus on improving mill utilisations, maintaining tight cost controls and increasing sustainable margins through diversifications both in market segments as well as geographies.
