REAL ESTATE-
PIF real estate arm Roshn Group rebranded as a multi-asset developer as it seeks to diversify its residential-focused portfolio by tapping mixed-use projects, it said in a press release. The company’s expanded portfolio will include 200 mn sqm of residential property and over 4 mn sqm of commercial, retail, and hospitality spaces, in addition to other assets in education, healthcare, transport, logistics, warehousing, and leisure.
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MANUFACTURING-
Zamil Steel Group plans to set up a new factory in Egypt to produce heavy metal structures, Egypt General Manager Khaled Saad said at an event yesterday. The factory, which will include three production lines with a production capacity of up to 36k metric tons per year, will be geared towards meeting high local demand and will export 50% of its output at a later stage, Saad said. The investment cost of the new factory, which will be self-financed, will be determined next year after the company assesses the necessary equipment and machinery for the project, according to Saad.
Zamil is already active in Egypt + the region: Zamil Steel owns two factories in Egypt, including in 6th of October and Sadat City, with total investments of about USD 70 mn to produce 1.2 mn tons of metal structures. The company has been active in Egypt for 25 years and expects to produce 72k tons in the country by the end of 2024. Zamil has also tapped new markets in Turkey and plans to expand to Benin in the next year, with long-term plans to tap the European market at a later stage, starting with Hungary, Saad said.
Juthor Paper Manufacturing — a unit of Middle East Paper (MEPCO) — tapped Austria’s Andritz AG to manufacture, supply and install a sixth tissue production line with an annual capacity of 60k tons, the parent company said in a filing to Tadawul. The freshly-penned two-year contract, which is valued at up to 25% of MEPCO’s 2023 revenue, tasks Andritz AG with delivering and implementing a complete tissue paper production setup.
MEGAPROJECTS-
Neom tapped global architecture and engineering firms for phase one of The Line’s development, according to a press release. Austria-based Delugan Meissl Associate Architects will lead the master planning and urban design, US-based Gensler will act as a city planning consultant, and the UK-based Mott MacDonald will oversee the city’s infrastructure. Progress on the city’s infrastructure is moving at a fast pace, with over 120 foundation piles being cast into the ground each week, the statement read.
INFRASTRUCTURE-
State-owned Water Transmission Company (WTCO) re-tendered the Ras Mohaisen-Baha-Makkah Independent Water Transmission System (IWTS) project, boosting capacity to 515k cubic meters per day up from 185k, Zawya reports. The project — spanning 300km — will follow a Design, Build, Finance, Lease, and Transfer model, with a lease term of up to 35 years under a public-private partnership. Submissions for expressions of interest are open until Tuesday, 19 November.
Background: The IWTS project — which plays into the government’s plans to bridge the water demand-supply gap — was originally handled by the Saudi Water Partnership Company as an Independent Water Transmission Pipeline project; the procurement baton has now been passed to WTCO.
ENERGY-
Arabian Drilling secured a 10-year extension for a Saudi Aramco land rigs contract, which is expected to add SAR 440 mn to the company’s backlog, according to a statement (pdf) from Arabian Drilling. The extension will come into effect after the ongoing contract expires in 4Q 2024.