Saudi Arabia sets prices

Saudi Arabia has set  the factory price of cement at SAR12/bag (US$3.20) and the retail price at SAR14/bag, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq al-Rabea. The price of bulk cement has been fixed at SAR240/t, it said.

Cement supply will grow 15 per cent annually after the ministries of petroleum and commerce agreed to provide the fuel to operate expansions at existing plants, the Riyadh-based news service said.

Output from 13 cement companies in the Kingdom reportedly rose by 13 per cent in February to 4.4Mt, according to data posted on the website of Yamamah Cement Co.

As a result of cement shortage in the past weeks, contractors and realtors in Jeddah, Madinah and other parts of the Kingdom had to pay SAR25 per bag in the black market, Arab News reported.