RIYADH — The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources revealed that the number of factories in Saudi Arabia until the end of January 2024 reached 11,672 factories, with a volume of investments amounting to SR1539 trillion. These also included some factories that are under various phases of construction. According to a report issued by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information under the ministry, a total of 152 new industrial licenses have been issued during the month of January, and that are distributed among five industrial activities. The activity of manufacturing food products came up first in the number of new licenses that stood at 27 license and it is followed by the activity of other non-metallic mineral products with 20 licenses, the activity of manufacturing of formed metal products, excluding machinery and equipment, with 19 licenses, the activity of manufacturing rubber and plastic products with 18 licenses, and the activity of manufacturing chemicals and chemical products with 14 licenses. The report indicated that the total number of industrial licenses issued by the ministry from the beginning of this year until the end of January was 152 licenses. The report stated that the volume of investments in new licenses for the month of January amounted to SR6.2 billion, and small establishments acquired most of the new industrial licenses during the same month by 89.47 percent, followed by medium establishments by 8.55 percent, and large establishments by 1.32 percent, while Saudi national factories represent the largest percentage of the total licenses issued by investment type at 75.66 percent, followed by foreign establishments at 14.47 percent and establishments with joint investment at 9.87 percent. The report indicated that the factories that began production during the month of January accounted for 79 factories, with an investment volume of SR1.3 billion, led by 13 food factories, and they were followed by 11 formed metal factories, 9 rubber and plastics factories, seven paper factories, and each furniture and basic metals factories each. The Saudi national factories made up 78.48 percent of the total factories that started production according to the type of investment, followed by factories with foreign investment at 12.66 percent and joint factories at 8.86 percent. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, through the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, issues on a monthly basis the most important industrial indicators that clarify the nature of the movement of industrial activity in the Kingdom, in addition to revealing the extent of the change that the sector is witnessing in new industrial investments and factories that have begun production.
