Thursday 28 March 2024
 
»
 
»
Story

Trafigura JV to build $2.8bn metal smelter in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, January 29, 2019

Global commodities trader Trafigura said it has reached an agreement to build a giant copper, zinc and lead smelting complex in Saudi Arabia at an investment of $2.8 billion.

The mega project, SmeltCo, which will come up in Ras Al Khair Mineral City in Saudi Arabia, is equally owned by Trafigura and Modern Mining Holding - an affiliate of the Riyadh-based Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group.

On completion, the integrated smelter complex will boast an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes of copper, 200,000 tonnes of zinc and 55,000 tonnes of lead, it stated.

The project was first announced in October, when Trafigura and Modern Mining Holding had officially signed a binding agreement to develop, finance, and operate the multi-billion-dollar integrated smelter complex following a formal approval from the Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources for the project.

As per the deal, Trafigura would provide its significant knowledge and understanding of the metals and mining industry and its own in-house technical and operational expertise to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The JV partners pointed out that SmeltCo was a pioneering project that would create significant value-added products capable of competing globally, thus giving in a major boost to the domestic metals and minerals conversion industry besides creating job opportunities for Saudi citizens.

Based on initial assessment the project is expected to generate about 3,000 direct jobs during construction and 1,200 permanent jobs in the operational phase, they added.

Modern Mining vice chairman and CEO Abdulaziz Fahad Al Hamwah said: "SmeltCo closes the gap in the kingdom’s “midstream” mining value chain with the production of high-quality premium base metals."

"The project is aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 which calls for developing and capturing maximum value from the mining sector," he added.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags:

More Construction & Real Estate Stories

calendarCalendar of Events

Ads