Saudi Arabia appears to be the top destination for steel firms as growth of production and appetite for steel remains strong, and is forecasted to grow by 9% between 2012 and 2015.
According to the ‘Saudi Arabia Steel Industry Forecast to 2013’ report by research firm, RNCOS, the Kingdom’s construction sector is potentially the largest and most rapidly growing market within the Gulf region.
Despite the downturn noted in the construction industry in the past few years, the Kingdom remained resilient, moving ahead with multi-billion dollar projects within the private and public sectors.
Saudi was reported to have acquired 48.9% of operating mills in the iron and steel sector operating 90 mills from the overall existing 184 mills located within the GCC region, closely followed by UAE with 31% and other GCC states.
Accumulated investments also witnessed a major increase from 2000 to 2011, increasing from $2.7bn to $19.3bn and forecasted rise in the near future with local and foreign projects requiring higher capital to complete.