Saudi Dairy Industry Produces 7 Million Liters Daily

A dairy aisle at a Saudi grocer. (SPA)
A dairy aisle at a Saudi grocer. (SPA)
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Saudi Dairy Industry Produces 7 Million Liters Daily

A dairy aisle at a Saudi grocer. (SPA)
A dairy aisle at a Saudi grocer. (SPA)

The Saudi dairy industry topped national food security products in terms of added value to domestic production, while dairy farm complexes are contributing to achieving self-sufficiency.

Many Saudi dairy products have been exported to foreign markets, competing with international products due to their higher quality and lower price.

Head of the National Committee for Dairy Producers at the Council of Saudi Chambers, Saleh al-Towayan, explained that by the end of 2020, production at 12 national companies reached 7 million liters with a daily filling capacity exceeding 18 million packages, including 35 products that meet local consumption needs.

Towayan said over 10,000 trucks transport and distribute products to 38,000 retail stores on a daily basis.

About 10,500 Saudis work in dairy products companies, while the dairy sector contributes $1.8 billion to the economy.

Saudi companies have expanded their production of dairy products and now 20 to 30 percent of their exports go to Gulf markets.



Bitcoin Drops to 11-day Low amid Tech Selloff

FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TT

Bitcoin Drops to 11-day Low amid Tech Selloff

FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Bitcoin fell below $100,000 on Monday, hitting its lowest in 11 days, in a move analysts attributed to a wave of caution after the surging popularity of a Chinese artificial intelligence model sparked a selloff in Western AI-related stocks.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency struggled to make gains last week, as a rally that had seen it break above $100,000 after US President Donald Trump's election ran out of steam, Reuters reported.

At 1156 GMT, bitcoin was at $98,852.17, down around 6% on the day, having fallen sharply in early trading to hit its lowest since Jan. 16.

Technology stocks plunged, as traders worried that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek could threaten Western companies' dominance of the sector, in a move some called AI's "Sputnik moment", referring to the former Soviet Union's launch of a satellite that marked the start of the space race in the late 1950s.

Bitcoin's losses are "seemingly driven by some risk-off sentiment circulating the markets currently due to DeepSeek," wrote eToro analyst Simon Peters.

Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said a decline in Nasdaq futures had hurt crypto markets, but that disappointment over the Trump administration's announcement about a cryptocurrency stockpile had put digital assets more at risk of a sharp selloff.

Crypto failed to feature in Trump's day-one announcements after taking office last week, leaving some investors disappointed. In an executive order on Thursday, Trump created a working group to draft new crypto rules and explore a crypto stockpile, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spiked accounting guidance that the industry said had stymied crypto adoption.

The prospect of interest rates staying higher for longer also hurt riskier assets, said Thomas Puech, CEO of digital asset hedge fund Indigo.

US Federal Reserve policymakers meet this week and are expected to keep interest rates on hold.