Emirates Business reported that Saudi Arabia would continue with the ban on export of cement until producers agree to the demands and conditions set by the Ministry of Commerce and permission to export could be granted to only those companies accepting the conditions.

Mr Khaled Al Suleiman, the Undersecretary for Industrial Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce said the 13 main cement manufacturers would be required to meet certain conditions and added these measures were necessary to ensure sufficient supply and price stability in the domestic market.

He said that "Exports of cement and steel will not resume before the manufacturers comply with the rules and meet the conditions set by the Ministry of Commerce. However, we are considering requests by three cement plants to export after meeting the ministry''s conditions and terms. Actually the ministry has not totally banned export of cement and steel as has been rumored. What it has done was a reorganization of its market as these are very important items.”

Saudi, the largest cement and steel producer in the region, introduced restrictions on cement and steel exports in mid-2008 following a surge in prices resulting from supply bottlenecks.