Fahad Al-Hathili, General Supervisor of the Consumer Protection Agency at the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, revealed that the number of licenses issued for the export of cement and steel has reached 16.

Al-Hathili said that these licenses, which met the specified conditions and requirements, include 6 licenses for cement exports (Northern Cement, Al-Jouf Cement, Tabuk Cement – Southern Cement – Hail Cement – and Najran Cement), and 10 licenses for steel exports.

He added that four applications are still under review among several received by the Ministry of Commerce following the new tariff decision; these include applications from steel manufacturers and one from a cement manufacturer.

The Ministerial Supply Committee, composed of the Ministries of Commerce and Investment, Finance, Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, and the Environment, Water, and Agriculture, recently decided to suspend export duties on steel for two years and reduce export duties on cement by 50%, with the aim of encouraging local producers and national industries to become more competitive.