Saudi Arabia s King, HH King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued a directive to fund more cement plants and import around 10 million tonnes of cement in order to offset a shortage in the country.
Saudi Press Agency said that the King has taken action in a bid to address growing demand in the country, where mega-projects in housing and infrastructure in cities are fuelling demand. Around $800m (SR: 3bn) has been set aside to build up to four new cement factories, which will have a production capacity of up to 12m tons a year.
The Kingdom s minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah said: "The royal directives will end what is being currently witnessed by the domestic market of scarcity of cement through compelling all factories to import quickly a total of 10 million tons of additional cement to cover the needs of their markets in addition to what is produced now, and the long-term solutions to meet the needs of the coming years to quickly create three to four new factories."
Shortages have been most acute in western cities where major rebuilding works are ongoing such as the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, as well as Jeddah and Yanbu.
