The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued urgent directives to address the growing demand for cement and to provide it to all citizens in light of rapid urban growth and the governmental infrastructure projects. The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah said, "The royal directives will end what is being currently witnessed by the domestic market of scarcity of cement through compelling all factories to import quickly a total of 10 million tons of additional cement to cover the needs of their markets in addition to what is produced now, and the long-term solutions to meet the needs of the coming years to quickly create three to four new factories with a production capacity of 12 million tons per year. An amount of SR 3 billion has been approved to support this program for three years."
