After the flour mills, Saudi Arabia said to mull grain silo privatizations

SAGO has been a key part of the Kingdom’s privatization plans. (Shutterstock)

• State-owned Saudi Grains Organization aims to start selling silo sites as soon as this year

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest buyers of wheat and barley, is preparing to sell some of its grain silos, Bloomberg reported.
State-owned Saudi Grains Organization aims to start selling silo sites as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. SAGO will seek bids from foreign and local firms, said the people. No decisions have been made and SAGO may retain the assets, they said.
Saudi Arabia has increased asset sales as it looks to open up and diversify the economy from oil.
SAGO has been a key part of the Kingdom’s privatization plans. In the past year, it sold all its flour mills to groups of local and international investors for about $1.5 billion. HSBC Holdings Plc advised it on all those transactions.
SAGO has 3.3 million tons of grain-storage space, according to its website. Saudi Arabia vies with China as the biggest importer of barley, buying about 6.9 million tons annually. It uses the grain mostly to feed sheep, camels and goats. It also ships in around 3 million tons a year of wheat, Bloomberg said.