Wednesday, Jul 27, 2011
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi-based Abdullah A.M. Al-Khodari Sons Co. (1330.SA) said Wednesday it inked a memorandum of understanding with U.K.-based infrastructure services provider Balfour Beatty PLC (BBY.LN) to bid together for the construction of two railway projects in the kingdom.
The firms will jointly bid for the planned railway link between the industrial hubs of Ras Al Zour and Jubail and the link between Dammam and Jubail, Al-Khodari said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website.
Last month, Saudi Railway Co., or SAR, said it plans to launch in August the tender for a railway that will link Ras Al Zour and Jubail on the Persian Gulf coast and bidders will be given three months to submit their offers.
Contracts for the railway, which is part of a larger rail line connecting Ras Al Zour with phosphate and bauxite mines in northern Saudi Arabia, are expected to be awarded early next year, it said, without providing any details on the value of the project.
The railway, which will eventually have a capacity to transport 15,000 tons will link the phosphate mine at Al Jalamid and the bauxite mine at Al Zabirah to processing facilities developed by Saudi Arabian Mining Co. with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. at Ras Al Zour.
SAR also said it plans to build a 120-kilometer railway to between Dammam and Jubail as part of a plan to link the kingdom's industrial cities to its vital.
-By Summer Said, Dow Jones Newswires; +966-546-842373; summer.said@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
27-07-11 0958GMT
