Dubai: Local steel manufacturers in Saudi Arabia have received licences to export the metal after a ban was lifted this month, a Ministry of Trade and Industry spokesman said on Monday.
But a ban on exporting scrap metals remained in place because the ministry believed local demand was still unfulfilled, the spokesman said.
Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, imposed a ban on steel exports last year to protect local consumers in the kingdom as domestic prices of the metal soared from $650 (Dh2,387) to $1,300 per tonne in July last year, traders said.
"The ministry has lifted the ban on steel because we want to support local companies, and if the demands of the local market are met, there is no harm in exporting the remaining amounts," the ministry spokesman said.