Food sector dominates new factories approved in Saudi

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• 9 new licences approved for food manufacturing in April
• 10,873 factories built or under construction in the kingdom
• Non-oil sales growth was strongest for nearly nine years

Saudi Arabia approved licences for 53 new factories with total investment capital of more than $5 billion in April.

The majority of new licences came from the food products industry, according to the latest monthly figures from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, with nine new licenses approved.

Other major sectors included non-metallic minerals (eight licences), and four licences each for formed metals, rubber products and water treatment.

The new factories are estimated to create over 1,300 new jobs when fully operational, the ministry said.

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A total of 14 new factories, with an investment value of SAR155 million ($41 million), started production in April. This created 394 new jobs and brought the total number of factories built or under construction in the kingdom to 10,873.

Two-thirds of the factory licences awarded in April were from Saudi-based local investors, while the remaining third were from foreign enterprises or joint ventures.

The Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reported this week that new orders across the kingdom’s non-oil sector rose at “accelerated, multi-year record rates”.

Data showed that output in the kingdom increased at the steepest rate since March 2015, while sales growth was the strongest for nearly nine years.

“Heightened demand and improved market conditions have accelerated employment growth to the highest level since August 2015 as well as purchasing activities,” Naif Al-Ghaith, chief economist at Riyad Bank, said.

Latest figures from the General Authority for Statistics also showed Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index increased by 3.2 percent in April compared to a year earlier, boosted by a 10.5 percent jump in manufacturing activity.