The Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed) will stop exports by the middle of 2004 in an attempt to focus on domestic demand and prevent the emergence of a black market there.
Ibrahim Al-Rashid, director general for commercial affairs, said the company would not sign any new export deals. “Hadeed’s prices are still lower compared to world prices,” the Arabic daily Al-Hayat quoted him as saying.
Hadeed's goal is to maintain the current iron prices, which have reached SR2,000 per ton, the paper added. Al-Rashid said his company hiked prices as a result of a rise in prices of raw materials.
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
