Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction has announced the groundbreaking of the Tuwaiq Casting & Forging factory in Ras Al Khair region of the kingdom with a total capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of castings and forgings per year.
Tuwaiq Casting & Forging is a joint venture between Doosan Heavy, Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Dussur) and Saudi Aramco Development Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of global energy giant Saudi Aramco, which was set up in January this year.
The foundry and forging plant is being set up at the King Salman Shipbuilding Complex near Jubail area in eastern Saudi Arabia at an investment of 1 trillion-won ($834 million). It is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
The factory, will manufacture cast and forged materials used for pumps and valves for petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia, and equipment for shipbuilding and offshore plants, said a spokesman from Doosan.
Equipped with integrated production lines, including steel making, casting and forging and processing, the new Tuwaiq plant will come up on a 400,000 sq m area.
Once operational, it is set to become Saudi Arabia’s largest casting and forging facility, he stated.
Major product lines from the facility will include casting and forging materials for pumps and valves used at petrochemical plants and for equipment used in shipbuilding and offshore plants in Saudi Arabia, stated the spokesman.
In the long term, the partners intend to expand the product mix of the facility to cover power generation plants and wind power plants, he added.
Speaking at the groundbreaking, Ras Al Khair Industrial Park CEO Ahmed bin Mohammed Hassan said: "The foundry and forging plant construction is the kingdom's first project and is part of a joint effort to build a complete value chain with coastal industrial production, thereby extending this value chain from Saudi raw materials on land to end products such as excavators and ships."
"With this project, not only are we casting basic steel parts for the offshore yards of the industrial city of Ras Al Khair, but also the entire kingdom. We have confirmed that we are aiming to mold the general energy products and service requirements of," he noted.
Mohammed Hassan said through this project, Saudi Arabia aims to create 1,400 new job opportunities in the local community with a Saudiization ratio of more than 50%.
The plan is to contribute to the increase of domestic products in the kingdom, he added.
