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Riyadh announces iron and steel projects worth $9bn

13 September 2022

Bandar al-Khorayef, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources (MIMR), has said that the ministry is working with local and international investors to create investment opportunities in the kingdom’s iron and steel sector.

Three projects are under construction and are estimated to be worth SR35bn ($9.33bn). The plants will have a combined production capacity of 6.2 million tonnes a year (t/y).

Al-Khorayef made the announcements during his inaugural speech at the Saudi International Iron and Steel Conference in Riyadh on 12 September, according to a report carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (Spa).

Iron and steel projects

The first project is an integrated iron sheet production complex with a projected capacity of 1.2 million t/y. The facility will manufacture products focusing on shipbuilding, oil pipelines, oil wells and offshore platforms segments.

The second project is being negotiated between MIMR and international investors, Al-Khorayef said. The project entails building an integrated iron surface production complex, with an annual capacity of 4 million t/y of hot rolled iron and 1 million t/y of cold rolled iron, as well as 200,000 tonnes of tin-plated iron and other products.

The complex will cater to the automotive, food packaging, household appliances and water pipeline sectors.

A third factory will be established to produce circular iron blocks and will have a targeted production capacity of 1 million t/y. The plant will mainly produce unwelded iron pipes for the oil and gas industry.

Policy decisions

Al-Khorayef said the MIMR is implementing a national plan for structuring the iron and steel sector – a blueprint containing 41 recommendations to enable the sector’s growth.

These include reviewing and approving 16 policies and legislations, as well as collaborating with the private sector on several long-term ventures, such as establishing an iron academy and a research and development centre to increase the efficiency of factories and create jobs for Saudi nationals.

“This will help us face and address global and local changes in order to ensure the sector’s sustainability and resiliency in the face of economic and geopolitical variables,” Al-Khorayef said.

The minister emphasised that the kingdom’s priorities include localising steel products of all types, including heavy iron sheets for the oil and gas, defence and construction sectors, tinplate steel for the canned food sector, flat tinplate for the automobile sector, and water pipes, among others.

MIMR is also making efforts to reduce the kingdom’s iron and steel imports by more than 50 per cent, “with an emphasis on maintaining a financially and operationally sustainable sector and ensuring the availability of critical supply chains such as iron ore”.

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Indrajit Sen

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