DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia expects a huge ship repair and shipbuilding complex that its national oil company Saudi Aramco is developing at Ras Al-Khair on the kingdom’s east coast to cost over 20 billion riyals (Dh19.58 billion; $5.33 billion), energy minister Khalid Al Falih said on Sunday.
The government will finance the infrastructure of the complex such as dredging and other work as it did with other cities like Jubail and Yanbu that have become major industrial hubs. “Construction will start in 2018, production in 2022,” Al Falih said. The minister who is also chairman of Aramco told reporters at the company’s headquarters in Dhahran. Ras Al Khair is itself turning into a major mining hub where Ma’aden has built an aluminium complex and phosphate facilities. The maritime complex is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Saudi Bahri, South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries and Lamprell. (Reuters)
