Oil & Gas Saudi energy minister: There’s more to us than just oil Saudi Arabia should no longer be described as an oil producer but an energy provider, the kingdom’s oil minister said this week. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told a minerals forum in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia aims to be a provider of all forms of energy, with global companies welcome to manage the entire process themselves […] January 11, 2024
Industry Mars Rover tech digs into Saudi mineral potential A mining and natural resources company is deploying technology based on Nasa’s Mars Rover in Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom ramps up its mineral wealth potential. Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) unveiled its Nomad robot at the Future Mineral Forum in Riyadh on Wednesday. It said the technology will “change early-exploration efforts as we know them”. […] January 10, 2024
Finance Turkey ready to explore rare earth mining partnerships Turkey is seeking global collaborations and new partnerships in excavating and processing rare earth materials, energy and natural resources minister Alparslan Bayraktar said. “We are ready to collaborate with all countries, especially in Africa and the Western and Central Asian regions,” Daily Sabah newspaper reported, citing Bayraktar’s speech at the ministerial roundtable meeting at Future […] January 10, 2024
Analysis Manufacturing Aluminium: waiting for the rise in demand With global aluminium prices soft and demand currently waning, the announcement last month of the launch of Kings Aluminium Industries’ AED750 million ($204 million) manufacturing and recycling plant in Abu Dhabi may have seemed unfortunately timed. However, “long term” has always been the name of the game with this lightweight metal, as giant, billion-dollar smelters […] January 5, 2024
Oil & Gas Costs blow for Saudi firms after Aramco price rises Production costs for companies in Saudi Arabia could increase by more than 3 percent after price rises announced by Saudi Aramco. Businesses have been given notice of the price increase for Aramco’s feedstock and fuel products, which came into effect from the start of this month. Aramco increased retail diesel prices for 2024 by 53 […] January 4, 2024
Finance Abu Dhabi’s IHC forms $27bn holding company 2PointZero The Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC) has set up a holding company that will have more than AED100 billion ($27.23 billion) in assets, under the name 2PointZero. The board has approved a move to transfer entities across several sectors to the new company after regulatory approvals, IHC said in a statement. The holding company’s […] January 3, 2024
Industry Maaden discovers ‘significant’ gold reserves in Saudi Arabia Maaden, Saudi Arabia’s flagship mining company, has discovered “significant” gold resource potential south of the existing Mansourah Massarah gold mine. The potential find, along a 100 km stretch, was the first under an extensive exploration programme launched in 2022, the company said in a statement. Samples showed the presence of high-grade gold deposits of 10.4 […] January 3, 2024
Industry Second industrial city planned for Saudi’s Aseer region Work has started on a second industrial city in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia after the first attracted investments of more than SR2 billion ($533 million). The development is being implemented by the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon) and the Aseer Region Development Authority. The Second Aseer Industrial City covers […] January 3, 2024
Analysis Trade Gulf’s pivot to Asia set to keep on rolling in 2024 2023 has been the year of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement, better known as the Cepa, as the UAE seeks to increase non-oil trade to $1.1 trillion (AED4 trillion) by 2031. The Emirates has seven deals in the bag and several more in the pipeline – and like many of its Gulf neighbours, it is […] December 27, 2023
Finance Abu Dhabi’s IRH to invest $1.1bn in Zambia copper mines UAE-based International Resources Holdings (IRH) will invest $1.1 billion as a strategic equity partner in Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mines (MCM). The investment will fund Mopani’s working capital, business expansion plan and pay off part of the $1.5 billion debt owed to previous owner Glencore, state-owned ZCCM Investments Holdings (ZCCM-IH) said in a statement. The Abu […] December 25, 2023
Analysis Industry Middle East craves a copper-bottomed future While recent weeks have seen some major ups and downs in the price of copper, for many old hands in the sector this is nothing new. “The one sure thing in copper,” Carlos Risopatron, director of economics and environment at the International Copper Study Group, tells AGBI, “is that you can always rely on volatility.” […] December 22, 2023
Manufacturing Saudi and Morocco vie for lead in Mena EV race Two clear frontrunners in the global electric vehicle race have emerged in the Middle East and North Africa region. Both Saudi Arabia and Morocco have accelerated efforts to develop their EV capabilities in 2023, with a series of multi-million-dollar investments and partnership deals. The two kingdoms see the EV industry as central to achieving economic […] December 22, 2023
Analysis Industry Saudi seeks gold in the Aseer hills – for tourism and mining Hidden in the heart of Saudi Arabia’s largest mountain range, the Aseer province was largely unknown to the West until the 1950s. The region’s remoteness helped to preserve its distinctive culture, with early visitors offered crowns of red and orange blooms for sale by its so-called Flower Men. Today tourists are an important part of the […] December 21, 2023
Trade UAE and Australia to hold Cepa talks The UAE and Australia have agreed to hold talks on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. Once concluded, the Cepa would be Australia’s first with a country in the Middle East and Africa. The UAE is Australia’s biggest trade partner in the Middle East. Bilateral non-oil trade between Australia and the UAE was worth $4.5 billion […] December 12, 2023
Trade Saudi Arabia and China sign $25bn of deals Deals worth more than $25 billion have been signed at the Saudi-China Investment Conference in Beijing. More than 60 agreements and memoranda of understanding were completed at Tuesday’s meeting, the Saudi Ministry of Investment said in a statement. The deals covered sectors including energy, agriculture, tourism, mining, financial services, logistics, infrastructure, technology and healthcare. About […] December 12, 2023
Sustainability Western Australia looks to Gulf for green deals The state of Western Australia – the heart of the country’s mining, steel and oil and gas industries – is planning partnerships with Arab nations to develop its renewables sector and curb emissions. “We’ve got a dual mission,” Reece Whitby, Western Australia’s minister for environment and climate action, told AGBI during Cop28 in Dubai. “We’ve […] December 12, 2023
Analysis Finance Gold to glisten despite world’s economic concerns Central bank demand helped lift gold prices to all-time highs this month and further accumulation should support the precious metal next year despite a likely slowdown in the global economy, a top industry official has told AGBI. Gold’s performance is important to the United Arab Emirates. The country is a major processor and the world’s […] December 10, 2023
Analysis Industry Future is rosy for Mena phosphate producers With Morocco and Saudi Arabia now holding the bulk of the world’s high-quality, accessible phosphate rock reserves, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is a major centre for the phosphate mining industry’s future growth, analysts say. Morocco alone holds around 70 percent of the world’s total reserves of phosphate rock, the raw material […] November 17, 2023
Analysis Trade Zimbabwe sharpens focus on trade with UAE The UAE could soon rival South Africa as Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner as the southern African country competes to attract more foreign investment. Zimbabwe is working to develop a number of sectors with the UAE, including agriculture, mining and energy, to build on the $2 billion bilateral trade registered last year, Lovemore Mazemo, Ambassador of […] November 13, 2023
Development Saudi Arabia to invest $500m in African development Saudi Arabia is to sign agreements worth more than SAR2 billion ($533 million) with African nations to invest in development projects and help boost “Africa’s voice” in international affairs. “Today we’ll witness the signing of agreements between the Saudi Fund for Development and a number of African countries for projects exceeding 2 billion riyals,” the […] November 9, 2023
Analysis Renewable Energy Startup touts alternative EV batteries for Saudi industry A startup developing non-lithium batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) says they are better suited to Gulf climates where flammability is a risk. But industry experts say it will be difficult to penetrate the car industry where lithium options are baked into budgets. Mukesh Chatter, founder of Alsym Energy, argued his case to regional political and […] November 1, 2023
Industry Miner Ma’aden reports $22m loss as commodity prices fall Ma’aden, the Gulf’s largest mining company, posted a net loss of SAR83 million ($22.1 million) for the third quarter of 2023, compared with a profit of more than SAR2 billion a year earlier. The Saudi company reported a SAR3.8 billion slump in sales on the back of declining commodity market prices of most of its […] October 31, 2023
