05/05/2009
Dr. Khalid Sulaiman, the Deputy Minister of Production Affairs for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, announced the resumption of iron exportation by mid-year. He stressed the keeness of his Ministry to support iron manufacturers and that the lifting of the ban comes after a thorough study of the manufacturing facilities.
Sulaiman affirmed that the investment agreement signed by Muhammad Abdul-Azeez Al-Rajihi & Sons Holding Company and the Saudi-Fransi Bank was worth 2.8 billion riyals. He also affirmed that iron production and manufacturing is an important part of the overall national production strategy.
He added that iron production and manufacturing in the Kingdom is no different than anywhere else in the world and it has been affected by sharp rises in the cost of raw materials over the last 18 months. This has affected production in the Kingdom although not as severely as other countries because it has large reserves of raw and industrial materials. Market flooding was the cause of the ban.
Sulaiman said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recieved many requests calling for the resumption of cement exportatation and the requests are currently being studied. However, cement companies would not be allowed to fix prices at 10 riyals affirming that both iron and cement prices would be determined by the market.
