Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 54 new industrial licenses in March 2024, distributed across a number of industrial sectors, led by the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products with 9 licenses, followed by the manufacture of food products with 8 licenses, then the manufacture of fabricated metal products with 7 licenses, while the manufacture of chemicals and the manufacture of paper and paper products each recorded 6 licenses.
The report issued by the Ministry’s National Center for Industrial and Mining Information clarified that the total number of industrial licenses issued by the Ministry from the beginning of this year through the end of March was 324, while the number of existing and under-construction factories in the Kingdom as of the end of the same month reached 11,832, with a total investment volume of 1,528 trillion riyals.
The report indicated that the investment volume for new licenses in March reached 1,047 billion riyals, with small enterprises—based on enterprise size—accounting for the majority of new industrial licenses during that month at 77.78%, followed by medium-sized enterprises at 22.22%, while national factories
accounted for the largest share of total licenses issued by investment type, at 98.15%, followed by foreign enterprises at 1.85%.A report by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information indicated that 69 factories began production in March, with a total investment of 1,339 billion riyals. Food product factories led the way with 12 factories, followed by chemical and chemical products factories with 8, then rubber and plastics products factories and non-metallic mineral products factories with 7 each, followed by paper and paper products factories with 6 factories. Domestic factories accounted for 86.96% of the total number of factories that began production, by investment type, followed by foreign-invested factories at 8,70%, and joint-venture factories at 4,35%. The report noted that the new industrial licenses were distributed across eight administrative regions, led by the Eastern Province with 20 factories, followed by the Riyadh region with 19 factories, the Makkah region with 6 factories, the Qassim region with 3 factories, then the Jizan and Madinah regions with two factories each, and finally the Al-Jawf and Al-Baha regions with one factory each.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources publishes, through the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, monthly reports on key industrial indicators that illustrate the nature of industrial activity in the Kingdom, in addition to revealing the extent of change the sector is undergoing in terms of new industrial investments, and the factories that have begun production.
