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JEDDAH – Saudi Arabias Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) gained 0.92 percent on Wednesday to 6,674.41 – the highest close since Oct. 15, 2008 – with 63 stocks rising and 44 falling.

Alinma Bank, the days most active stock by value and by volume, rose 0.78 percent to SR13.00, while fellow market leader Kingdom Holding gained 1.05 percent to SR9.60.

Saudi Investment Bank had the days biggest rise, climbing 2.96 percent to SR19.10.

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AL-KHOBAR – Demand for steel in top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to rise this year by 8 percent with consumption nearing 6.4 million tons, Saudi Arabian Basic Industries (SABIC) said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabian authorities in 2008 imposed restrictions on exports of steel and scrap metal due to tight supply in the domestic market. SABIC, which controls the kingdoms biggest steel producer Hadeed, said on its website that total production capacity at local plants run at full tilt is about 7.3 million tons.

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JEDDAH – Saudi Arabias Arabtank Terminal (ATTL) is boosting its oil storage capacity at the Red Sea coast port of Yanbu by 580,000 cubic meters, industry sources said on Wednesday.

The new storage facility will take capacity at the terminal to 851,200 cubic meters, of which more than 90 percent is expected to be designated for oil products.

“This will be for oil mostly, and it will be segregated … which is for both clean and heavy oil products,” a source familiar with the project said. Construction of the new storage tanks will start in the fourth quarter and will take about 24 months to complete, sources said.

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JEDDAH – Shuaa Capitals Saudi Arabian unit is beginning its acquisition march, even as most of the world continues to struggle with a deflated economy.

Shuaa Capital Saudi Arabia said its hospitality fund has bought land in Jeddah for a hotel development worth more than $130 million, the first ever land acquisition by a hospitality fund in the Kingdom, according to Reuters.

The fund is tapping growing demand for hotels in the worlds largest oil exporter and will build a luxury project in the Red Sea city worth SR500 million ($133.3 million), Shuaa Capital Saudi Arabia said.

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AL-KHOBAR – Canadas SNC-Lavalin Group has presented the lowest bid for a management consultancy deal at a Saudi power plant project, two industry sources said.

The plant, which Saudi Electricity Co plans to build in Rabigh on the Red Sea coast, is estimated to cost around $4 billion.

The Montreal-based firm submitted the lowest bid for the project management consultancy (PMC) deal, the sources said declining to give the value of the contract.

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RIYADH – Plans to modernise Saudi Arabias legal system will take years due to a chronic shortage of qualified judges and lawyers.

The Kingdom said this month it would set up commercial and appeal courts in the main cities as part of a $2 billion reform to modernise courts and train judges. The move coincides with a crackdown on trading violations on the Arabs biggest bourse by slapping heavy fines on major banks or withdrawing licenses for financial firms.

The United States last month also removed Saudi Arabia from a list of alleged intellectual property violators, citing a better law enforcement environment.

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JEDDAH – Samba Financial Group led gainers as Saudi Arabias Tadawul All-Share Index climbed 0.54 percent to 6,614 points on Tuesday, its highest finish since October 2008.

Samba climbed 3.8 percent. The lender is talking to several banks about a dollar-denominated international bond issue.”Sambas news gives good sentiment on banks,” said Saleh al-Onazi, vice-president of principal investment at Swicorp in Riyadh.

Banks hugely underperformed the market last year as investors fretted over provisions from bad debts, but Sambas bond move helps erase some of these doubts, Onazi said. The bank sector accounts for more than 40 percent of shares changing hands on the index as Al-Rajhi Bank added 0.6 percent.

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RIYADH – Saudi Arabia has approved the Gulf Arab states first exchange-traded fund (ETF), which will be accessible to foreigners as part of efforts to open up the biggest Arab bourse.

Saudi financial firm Falcom Financial Services won approval to list the “Falcom Saudi Equity ETF” on the bourse, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The worlds top oil exporter has been trying to encourage more foreign money to its bourse, having recently allowed indirect foreign ownership via so-called swap agreements.

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VIENNA – OPEC ministers due to arrive here for their meeting on March 17 say there is no need to change output targets with oil prices above their preferred range, but soft demand is prompting calls to curb overproduction.

“In my opinion, I dont think we are going to see any change, even though inventories are high,” Qatars Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters by telephone on Monday.

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DUBLIN – The Irish government is expected to announce further bank bailout measures around the end of March.

So far it has nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and acquired minority stakes in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland. This month it wants to start shifting property loans worth 80 billion euros into the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), a “bad bank”.

The discounted NAMA sales will prompt banks to raise additional capital, probably including further injections from the state, and it will also trigger consolidation in the industry.

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