Saudi Arabia has become the leading consumer of steel, aluminium, copper and other minerals as it works to complete major manufacturing and infrastructure projects valued at over $1 trillion, state-owned SPA reported, citing Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs Khalid Saleh Al-Mudaifer.

The Kingdom has set goals to develop “green iron” and “green mineral” projects that will integrate with hydrogen plants, which are being developed with companies such as the Saudi stock exchange-listed ACWA Power, the official said during the Saudi-South African Investment Forum held in Jeddah.

In September, consultancy firm Knight Frank said that more than $1 trillion worth of projects have been rolled out in Saudi Arabia since the launch of the Vision 2030 strategy, which seeks to transform the kingdom into an economic powerhouse.

(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)