DISPUTE WATCH- Iron factories at war with Trade Ministry over import duty on iron billets: Twenty-two iron factories have halted procedures to resume production due to an appeal filed by the Trade Ministry against an administrative court’s decision to suspend the 15% import duty on iron billets, an industry source told the local press. The court will look into the appeal tomorrow. The factories, which may not resume operations until after the court has reviewed and ruled on the appeal, have also lodged a separate appeal requesting that the court essentially disregard the ministry and allow them to resume production, lawyer Gaber Nassar said. The factories had begun to release 70k tonnes of billets from port warehouses after the court’s decision to suspend the duty.

Background: Twenty-one iron factories had filed a lawsuit against the ministry’s decision after the increased price of iron forced them to stop production. The ministry imposed the 15% levy, together with a 25% import fee on steel rebar, in mid-April for a period of 180 days.