Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have initiated talks on the extraction and processing of iron ore to steel.
Meeting on the sidelines of the just concluded Resourcing Tomorrow at the annual Mines and Money Expo in the London borough of Islighnton, United Kingdom, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake and the Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy of Saudi Arabia, Khalid bin Saleh Al-Musdaifer, discussed plans to extract iron ore and process steel in Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia currently boasts a solid steel industry that relies on importing iron ore from various African countries.
However, Alake pitched for the extraction and beneficiation of iron ore to steel in Nigeria, adding that the value-added exports would attract better prices than raw ores.
Responding, Al-Mudaifer confirmed Saudi Arabia’s interest in sourcing iron ore for its steel industry and assured the Minister that the government would consider Nigeria’s proposal for the domestication of the downstream value chain in the country.
A follow-up meeting is scheduled for Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, during the Future Metals Forum in January, 2025.
