Saudi Arabia to privatize remaining 2 flour mills soon, says NCP spokesperson

The privatization of the remaining two flour milling firms, namely Second Milling Co. and Fourth Milling Co., will be completed soon and ownership will be transferred to the private sector, CNBC Arabia reported, citing the official spokesperson from the National Center For Privatization & PPP (NCP), Hani bin Nasser Alsaigh.

The privatization process is aimed at creating a new private flour milling industry, which was previously state-owned.

“The privatization of flour milling companies will provide better services to the beneficiaries, increase the available job opportunities and boost the market competitiveness to enhance efficiency,” Alsaigh stated.

According to data compiled by Argaam, last week, NCP and The Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) completed the phase I of the privatization of First Milling Co. and Third Milling Co. This also included offering 100% shares of both companies to private sector strategic investors.

In July, Saudi Arabia's state grain buyer announced the start of the second and final phase of the flour milling sector privatization, which included the second and fourth milling companies.

The second milling company has three branches in Riyadh, Hail and Jizan, with a production capacity of 1.3 million tons per annum for flour; 180,000 tons for fodder; and 190,000 tons for silos.

The fourth milling company has three branches in Al Dammam, Al Kharj and Al Madinah, with a production capacity of 945,000 tons per annum for flour; 90,000 tons for fodder; and 140,000 for silos.