Saudi Arabia is working to launch a commodity trading in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia is working to create a commodity trade exchange in Riyadh, in a move aimed at reducing the dependence on global markets to determine prices, and to enable producers to obtain reasonable prices based on demand and demand. The establishment of this stock exchange was through collaboration between the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the financial sector in the Kingdom, which studies the market details, and prepares the necessary equipment for its launch, according to what Khaled Al -Mudayfar, Deputy Minister of Industry and Saudi Ministers for Mining Matters in an interview with Al -Sharq, of the mining conference. Noureddine Mohamed, chairman of the Target Investment Group, expected during an interview with ‘Al -Sharq’ that the commodity stocks in Saudi Arabia after its introduction available in the country led by oil and gold, in addition to food commodities such as sugar, rice and oils. According to the World Bank, basic commodity exchange offers an organized central market, where buyers and sellers determine fair market prices by demand and supply. Saudi Arabia is aimed at establishing this stock exchange that is not new. In May 2023, the Shura Council called on the Capital Market Authority to study the feasibility of establishing a commodity market in the kingdom. Al-Mudayfar, which attracts a third of the targeted investments in the mining sector, explained that the sector is taking steady steps to reach its targets within the “Vision 2030”, which is that mining and mining industries are the third sector that is the largest contribution to the country’s sector, to the oil, gas and petrochemical industry. He pointed out that since the launch of the mining strategy in 2017, the Kingdom has introduced great updates to this sector; This included the development of comprehensive and clear systems for the investor, accelerating the issuance of licenses, providing data and investing in the sector competitively financially. As a result of these reforms, Saudi Arabia has managed to attract about $ 32 billion in investment with automatic iron, phosphates, aluminum and copper investment projects, which are already under construction, which, according to all -Mudayfar, which is attracted to $ 100 billion by 2030. Similarly, the spending on metal exploration in the Kingdom has doubled four times since 2018, to reach $ 100 per square kilometer, and an annual growth rate of 32%, higher than the average global exploration ranges ranging between 6 and 8%, according to Al -Mudayyfar. He added that the number of exploration companies operating in the country increased from 6 companies in 2019 to 138 businesses, the small and medium businesses represented 60% of it. He pointed out that foreign enterprises represent about 70% of the total number of companies employed in this sector. The proposal to explore minerals indicated that Saudi Arabia had invested more than a billion Riyals in the geological survey of an area of 630 thousand square kilometers, which led to the re -evaluation of mineral reserves in the country to more than $ 2.5 billion, compared to 1.3 billion five years ago. The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources aims to explore minerals for spaces of 50 thousand square kilometers by the end of this year, according to Al -Mudayfar, who said the ministry continued to offer the same area to exploration companies in the coming years. He emphasized that Saudi Arabia seeks to become a center of minerals in the region of East Africa to Western Asia and Central Asia, especially because this vast region is geologically similar and available in terms of the types of minerals in it, and notes that the collaboration between companies in the region and foreign investors will create some kind of integration.