Contracts worth $8.1bn (SAR30.4bn) were awarded in January 2015 in Saudi Arabia, making it the highest monthly value of contracts awarded during the first quarter of 2015.
Total contracts worth $15.2bn (SAR57.3bn) were awarded in the Kingdom in Q1 2015. Riyadh accounted for the largest share of awarded contracts – 33% of the total contract value – mainly due to the military medical city under construction in the province.
Jazan region and Eastern Province are the next on the list of highest contract awardees, but they follow Riyadh by “a wide margin”, local daily Arab News reported. In Jazan, two contracts were awarded in the residential real estate sector, two sugar refinery projects in the industrial sector, and one sizeable contract in the transportation sector.
In Eastern Province, Saudi Aramco awarded two contracts in the oil & gas sector, and a residential project was awarded in Makkah.
The Construction Contracts Index (CCI) increased to 290.78 points by the end of the first quarter of 2015, from 234.48 points recorded at the end of 2014, yet still below the year end peak of 2013’s 465.03 points.
Contracts awarded during February 2015 resulted in the CCI rising by 17% to 300.85 points, reaching its highest level during Q1, 2015, before settling at 290.78 points in March.
Healthcare, transportation, water and oil & gas were the major contributors to January 2015’s contract awards. Three contracts were awarded in the healthcare sector, of which the largest was worth $3.8bn (SAR14.25bn), awarded by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense to Saudi Bin Laden Group. The contract entails the construction of phase 1 of the Military Medical City in Riyadh.
The second and third contracts worth $98m (SAR367.5m) and $70m (SAR262.5m) were awarded by the Ministry of Health to Almajal Alarabi Holding for the construction of two 500 beds mental health hospitals in Taif and Jeddah respectively, the report added.