JEDDAH: King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh will witness the launch of an SR15 billion Rajhi steel complex on Tuesday. Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), and Abdul Aziz Al-Aboudi, chairman of Al-Rajhi Steel Company, will take part in the ceremony to hand over land for the project.
The new Rajhi Steel complex will cover four million square meters in the industrial area at KAEC and will contain a number of plants including a direct reduction iron plant with a capacity of 1.8 million tons a year. It will create 1,500 direct jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs.
The complex will include a hot briquetted iron plant with a capacity of 650,000 tons a year and a melt shop with a capacity of 2 million tons a year. The firm will later offer 50 percent of the new project to the public through an initial public offering.
The complex will supply a variety of stainless steel products required for many industries including car industry, gas and steam powered turbines and industrial bearings. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has signed an agreement to supply 70 million cubic feet a day of dry gas to Rajhi Steel.
Emaar Economic City, an affiliate to UAE real estate giant Emaar Properties, is spearheading the development of KAEC, one of the Kingdom's most ambitious projects aimed at diversifying its oil based economy. The project aims at building a new high tech city on the Red Sea coast with businesses, industrial, leisure and residential estates as well as a giant port.
© Arab News 2011
