JEDDAH – The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) approved 14 loans valued at SR2.9 billion ($773 million) to establish nine new projects and expand five existing ones, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Ayed, the fund's director. The loans include SR1.7 billion for the chemical industry, the official news service said. With SR900 million in loans, mining industries received the lion's share, followed by engineering industries (SR355 million), chemical industries (SR257 million), building materials (SR226 million) and consumer industries (SR165 million), SIDF said. The SIDF has approved a SR310 million loan to establish a factory in Yanbu to manufacture tires of cars and small buses and a SR209 million loan to expand an existing chemical factory in Jubail. Al-Ayed moreover said total investments in three new construction material factories and expansion of a similar factory would draw a total investment of SR958 million. The new factories are in Madinah, Dammam and Thadik, a town northwest of Riyad. – SG
