It’s reported that Egyptian Ezz Steel announced to hike the hot rolled coil (HRC) ex-work prices by EGP110/ton to EGP4, 965/ton for March, affected by higher input costs and depreciated Egyptian pound. Market insiders predicted that the Egyptian steelmakers might not raise HRC prices further in April as the HRC prices have surged by EGP715/ton since last November until now. Meanwhile, it’s said that Ezz Steel has started to control rebar production and to increase HRC outputs, driven by increased export prices of HRC. At present, Ezz Steel’s HRC export prices are at US$660/ton FOB.