Saudi Arabia has announced three steel investment plans that total SAR 35 billion [$9.3bn].

One would be to build an integrated steel plant that would proceed steel for a number of industries, including food packaging.

Another would be for a steel plant that would focus on shipbuilding and for oil pipelines, with an estimated annual output of 1.2m tonnes.

The combined annual capacity of all three projects would be around 6.2m mt, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Industry and mineral resources minister Bandar Al-Khorayef said during a speech at the Saudi International Iron and Steel Conference that another project is being negotiated with investors.

He pointed out that the Saudi Kingdom’s priorities included localising steel products of all types, such as heavy steel plates for the oil and gas sector, defence and construction sectors, tinplate steel for the canned food sector, the automobile sector, and water pipes.

He said: “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.”