On September 4, Egypt’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement that Egypt has issued new rules to relax import customs clearance, reducing import duties on about 150 imported goods, which are considered very important to local production. It is reported that the reduction of import tariffs aims to ease supply chain constraints and promote the development of local industries.

Since the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided in March to cancel documentary collection transactions and force imports only using letters of credit, the import of finished products has completely ceased, according to Matta Bishai, head of the Internal Trade Committee at the Egyptian Ministry of General Affairs. Importer inventories have almost bottomed out.

With the import business almost stagnant, there is a severe shortage of most manufactured goods in the local market, especially sanitary ware, household appliances, office appliances, furniture, toys and auto parts, while the prices of imported goods have risen by about 20% to 45%.

30 Egyptian sanitary ware importers to build factories.Due to the serious decline in imports, according to the Egyptian economic newspaper alborsaa, 30 sanitary ware importers have been trying to cut into production since the beginning of this year, including investing in factories.

In February this year, the Egyptian sanitary ware company Al Samih acquired 6,000 square meters of land in the Suez Canal Economic Zone to build a new factory with an investment of about 30 million Egyptian pounds.