Regional News

In brief

Batista shares for Mubadala

BRAZILIAN tycoon Eike Batista will transfer 17.1 million shares, or 10.5 per cent, of his iron ore mining company MMX Mineração e Metalicos SA to Abu Dhabi government investment fund Mubadala Development Corp, MMX said.

The transaction will cut his stake to 46 per cent of the Rio de Janeiro-based company. That will end his full control of the company but he will remain the largest shareholder.

Batista has debts with Mubadala related to deals he made before the collapse and breakup of his giant EBX industrial group that includes MMX.

 

SBG unit seeks Carrara stake

A UNIT of Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) plans to buy a 50 per cent stake in an Italian company, which is authorised to extract one third of the marble from hills above the Tuscan town of Carrara, in a deal worth about $60 million, reports said.

SBG unit Construction Products Holding Company’s chief operating officer Walid Samaha will preside over the new venture.

 

Emicool inks bank deal

DUBAI-based Emirates District Cooling (Emicool) has said it signed a $245 million, 12-year facility with Dubai Islamic Bank to refinance existing debt and fund its expansion.

Emicool, a venture between Dubai Investments and Union Properties, offers cooling services in some areas of the emirate and has an installed capacity of 330,000 tonnes of refrigerant.

The company has said it plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the coming years.

 

Rental equipment favoured

THE earthmoving equipment rental market in Saudi Arabia is growing at a rapid pace mainly because of the building of skyscrapers, says a report.

The chances of the equipment being idle when there is no business is moderate and companies do not incur high maintenance cost when they rent equipment, said the Research and Markets’ “Earthmoving Equipment Market in Saudi Arabia 2014-2018” report.

 

Unit handover to Petro Rabigh        

SAUDI Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical have said they will transfer ownership of a planned SR32 billion ($8.5 billion) petrochemical facility to their joint venture Petro Rabigh.

The new facility, known as Rabigh 2, is to be built as an expansion of Petro Rabigh’s existing petrochemical plant, increasing output and introducing higher-margin products.

Petro Rabigh has said previously it is due to come online in 2016, despite a string of maintenance problems at the existing facility.

 

Elcos venture in Bahrain

BAYTIK Industrial Oasis Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain, has leased out 4,800 sq m of light industrial units to Elcos, a unit of Spanish Aiscan, a leading pipe manufacturing company.

Elcos will produce more than 750,000 m of pipes and accessories from the oasis leasing complex at the Bahrain International Investment Park in Hidd.

Its products are approved by AENOR (the national accreditation body in Spain) and SASO (Saudi Standards Organisation) and manufactured according to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards.

 

TMK gets PDO contract

OMAN’s TMK Gulf International Pipe Industry (TMK GIPI), part of global pipe manufacturer TMK, was recently awarded a contract from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

The sole manufacturer of 8” to 24” diameter high-pressure OCTG casing pipes in Oman, it will shortly commence delivery of 18,400 tonnes of OCTG (threaded and coupled casing pipes), the company said. These high-strength casing pipes will be used in oil development and drilling projects by PDO.

 

Industrial city for women

WORK on the first women’s industrial city in Saudi Arabia, expected to accommodate women’s businesses exclusively, is well under way.

The city, expected to cost SR111 million ($29.59 million), will span an area of 500,000 sq m and is located east of Al Ahsa International Airport.