Rayanco to build Saudi Arabia’s first EAF billet plant

The new facility in Dammam will have an initial capacity of 150 ktpa with further expansion

Rayanco, one of the leading scrap metal suppliers in Saudi Arabia, has launched a project to build the country’s first electric arc furnace (EAF) steel billet plant. The facility is being built in the 3rd Industrial Zone of Dammam on the east coast, Kallanish reports.

Rayanco’s founder and CEO Shahjahan Aijuddin said that the production equipment has already been ordered from a Chinese manufacturer, and construction work is in an active phase. It is expected that the permit to connect the electricity supply will be obtained in the near future. If everything goes according to plan, the launch is scheduled for June-August 2026.

The first stage envisages an annual capacity of 150 thousand tons, with a further increase to 200 thousand tons per year shortly after the start.

Today, the key producers of commercial billets in Saudi Arabia are Al Qaryan, the largest market player located in Dammam, and Power Steel in the Central region. At the same time, two other Dammam-based companies – Reebal, which stopped production two months ago, and Metal Corner, which ceased operations last year – have left the market. The reason was reportedly a decline in margins due to the increase in imports of billets from the Far East that began in September.

«The increase in imports puts significant pressure on local producers. In such circumstances, investing in domestic billet production is a bold and ambitious step,» commented a senior representative of a local steel mill.

Earlier, the board of directors of Indian pipe manufacturer Jindal Saw approved new international investments totaling $118 million to strengthen its presence in the Middle East. The largest initiative involves setting up a wholly owned subsidiary in Abu Dhabi (UAE) to build a seamless pipe plant with a capacity of 300 thousand tons per year. In Saudi Arabia, Jindal Saw invests in two joint ventures through its subsidiary Jindal Saw Holdings FZE.