Sabic predicts 8% rise in steel demand

Saudi Arabian Basic Industries (Sabic) has said that demand for steel in Saudi Arabia is expected to rise this year by 8% with consumption nearing 6.4 million tonnes, Reuters has reported. Sabic, which controls the kingdom's biggest steel producer Hadeed, said that total production capacity at local plants run at full tilt is about 7.3 million tonnes. The firm said it is moving ahead with plans to raise annual capacity of long-steel products to four million tonnes by mid-2012, from 3.2 million tonnes currently.