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Industrial Cities
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The Kingdom's thriving private sector meets domestic consumer demand for a variety of goods and services. |
The Kingdom's policy for ensuring the growth of the non-oil industrial sector focuses on establishing industries that use the country's abundant and inexpensive supplies of petroleum products, petrochemicals and minerals. Petrochemical and other oil-based industries were concentrated at new industrial cities. These plants use natural gas and natural gas liquids that were previously flared, as well as refined products from the oil industry to manufacture products that would in turn feed non-oil industries. Concentration on industrial plants in specific areas also facilitates the provision of vital support services, such as water, power and transportation.
Eight industrial cities have been built, with the two principal ones at Jubail on the Arabian Gulf and Yanbu on the Red Sea. Others are scattered across the Kingdom. These sites were chosen for their proximity to sources of raw materials and ease of access to major domestic and international consumer markets. All have been built with emphasis on environmental and wildlife conservation.
Jubail is the largest industrial city. It accommodates more than 30,000 workers and has 15 major plants and other industrial facilities, as well as a dedicated desalination plant, a vocational training institute and a college. Yanbu is a major industrial site with a modern port from which products manufactured locally and in other areas of the Kingdom are exported. There are three major refineries, a petrochemical complex and many manufacturing and support enterprises.
The Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) plays a central role in encouraging private sector participation in the nation's economic growth. Established in 1976 by the government as a shareholding company with an initial capital of 2.66 billion U.S. dollars, SABIC quickly became the backbone of Saudi Arabia's successful industrialization. By 1994, SABIC had 15 major plants operating in the industrial cities of Jubail, Yanbu and Jeddah, and a 16th under construction, with an annual production of 13 million tons of chemicals, plastics, industrial gases, steel and other metals. Some of these products are sold on domestic and international markets. Others are used as feedstock by secondary and support industries to produce consumer goods. These industries, all owned and operated by the private sector, produce a variety of consumer and industrial goods. .
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