The Saudi unit of ArcelorMittal will start producing in the first half of 2012 at its new mill at Jubail.
The US$700 mn plant will produce 600,000 metric tonnes of pipes a year for the oil and petrochemical industry, Al-Watan cited Mohammed Al-Jabr, ArcelorMittal's managing director in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Jabr was formerly the vice president of Saudi Basic Industries Corp.'s steel unit.
The company plans to invest up to US$3 billion in Saudi steel projects over the next five years and is conducting studies to build a factory north of Jubail at Ras Al-Khair, where the government is forming a mining hub.
