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Aramco Signs First Contract for King Salman Int’l Complex for Maritime Industries and Services

Ahmed Al-Sa’adi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior VP for Technical Services with executives of Contractor Managements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Ahmed Al-Sa’adi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior VP for Technical Services with executives of Contractor Managements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Aramco Signs First Contract for King Salman Int’l Complex for Maritime Industries and Services

Ahmed Al-Sa’adi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior VP for Technical Services with executives of Contractor Managements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Ahmed Al-Sa’adi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior VP for Technical Services with executives of Contractor Managements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Aramco signed a contract with a consortium including Saudi Archirodon Company Ltd and Huta Hegerfeld AG Saudia Company for dredging, reclamation and marine structures for the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in the city of Ras al-Khair.

With investments reaching $6 billion, King Salman International Complex is an ambitious project that will help drive the Kingdom’s economic diversity and growth and localize energy sector industries.

Its location in the strategic Ras al-Khair area enables the complex to meet the construction needs of offshore oil and gas rigs, offshore platforms and support vessels, and a variety of maritime equipment and commercial vessels It will also provide them with maintenance, repair and overhaul services.

The contract is the first of its kind where contractors will conduct dredging and reclamation of about 37 million cubic meters of fill, in addition to ground improvement over an area of 7.4 million square meters.

The contract will also provide for constructing 4,500 linear meters of concrete quay walls and wharves and 12,000 linear meters of rock revetments and breakwaters to protect the integrity of the complex.

Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President for Technical Services Ahmed al-Sa’adi stated that it is an important milestone for King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services.

“The Complex is in line with the Kingdom’s economic diversification objectives, it will position the Kingdom as a strategic logistics hub and will create vast job opportunities,” he added.

Initial phase of the contract will be fully executed by 2020 and it is crucial for the whole program as it will prepare the project’s land for subsequent construction of a dry dock and ship building and maintenance facilities.

Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz inaugurated the complex in November 2016 in Ras al-Khair, north of Jubail industrial city in the Eastern Province.

The complex complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps to meet the development and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030.

The facility will offer quality, efficiency and economies of scale, and when completed will offer vessel and rig build, maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The project will comply with all of the Saudi government’s environmental and sustainability requirements.

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Egypt’s Suez Canal Revenues Rise 14% as Red Sea Tensions Ease

Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)
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Egypt’s Suez Canal Revenues Rise 14% as Red Sea Tensions Ease

Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt's Suez Canal revenues rose 14.2% year-on-year between July and October, the canal authority said on Tuesday, citing calmer conditions in the Red Sea after a ceasefire in Gaza and a pick up in traffic through the vital waterway.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched more than 100 attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait that links them in 2023 and 2024 in what they described as solidarity with the Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza, prompting many shippers to switch to alternative routes.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said 229 ships returned to transit through the canal in October, the highest monthly figure since the start of the regional crisis, adding that traffic volumes and tonnage had shown a "relative improvement" in recent months.

From July to October, 4,405 vessels carrying 185 million metric tons passed through the canal, compared with 4,332 ships carrying 167.6 million tons in the same period last year, Rabie told Reuters during a meeting with representatives from 20 major shipping lines in Ismailia.

Rabie said the positive atmosphere following last month's Sharm el-Sheikh summit on Gaza's future had encouraged many carriers to resume using the canal.

He invited global shipping companies to conduct trial voyages through the waterway, underscoring Egypt's efforts to restore confidence among maritime operators after months of disruption in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab region.

French shipping line CMA CGM has already resumed crossings with two large container vessels, while other operators, including MSC, Ever Green, and Cosco, said they were considering expanding their activity through the canal as conditions stabilise.

The Suez Canal, the fastest sea route between Europe and Asia, remains a key source of hard currency for Egypt, which has faced financial strain amid regional instability and reduced transit traffic earlier this year.

Business

Putin Orders Road Map for Russian Rare Earths Extraction 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Putin Orders Road Map for Russian Rare Earths Extraction 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered the Russian cabinet to draw up by December 1 a road map for the extraction of rare earth minerals.

In a list of tasks for ministers published on the Kremlin website, Putin also ordered the cabinet to take measures to develop transport links at Russia's borders with China and North Korea.

Rare earths - used in smartphones, electric vehicles and weapons systems - have taken on vital strategic importance in international trade.

In April, US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Ukraine that will give the US preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in the country's reconstruction.

Russia says it is also interested in partnering with the US on rare earth projects, but prospects have been held up by a lack of progress towards ending the war in Ukraine.

China, the dominant producer of rare earths, has hit back at US tariffs this year by placing restrictions on their export.

Putin's order - a summary of action points from a Far Eastern Economic Forum he attended in Vladivostok in September - did not go into detail about Russia's rare earths plan.

Among other points, he also instructed the government to develop "multimodal transport and logistics centers" on the Chinese and North Korean borders.

Putin said the locations should include two existing railway bridges linking Russia and China and a planned new bridge to North Korea which he said must be commissioned in 2026.

Both of Russia's far eastern neighbors have deepened economic ties with Moscow since Western countries imposed sanctions on it over its war in Ukraine.

Business

Türkiye Central Bank’s Total Reserves Fell $1.5 Bln Last Week, Bankers Say 

People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)
People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Central Bank’s Total Reserves Fell $1.5 Bln Last Week, Bankers Say 

People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)
People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)

The Turkish Central Bank's total reserves fell by another $1.5 billion last week, according to bankers' calculations, after having dropped by double-digits in the week of October 24.

According to the calculations, which were based on the central bank's leading indicators, gross reserves fell to $184 billion, while net reserves rose by $1.5-2 billion to stand at $69.5 billion.

The decline in global gold prices caused a drop of $1 billion last week, after having caused a decrease of more than $5 billion the previous week.

Bankers calculated that the central bank, which sold $5.5 billion in foreign currency the previous week, bought $1.5 billion in foreign currency last week. Official data is expected to be announced on Thursday.