Dow Jones reported that 3 Saudi steel plants with a combined production capacity of 700,000 tonnes are up for sale due to failure to settle debts to local banks.

The paper said that the owners have offered to sell their plants at cheap prices to local and foreign investors and have signed letters of intent in the last few days with potential buyers for this purpose.

All efforts to save these plants have failed because they were individual and private efforts not supported by governmental entities.

The people said that Saudi steel factories are under a lot of pressure, such as the unexpected collapse of prices, the government''s ban on steel exportation and dumping, adding that these plants were established with exportation as one of their strategic targets.