The economic dimension of the milling industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study measured the ability of the General Food Security Authority to provide wheat and support for the milling industry and flour production in Saudi Arabia, using econometric analysis. It was found from this study that the General Food Security Authority was able to increase the strategic stock of wheat, by 832.89 thousand tons, until it became sufficient for consumption needs for a period of 5.5 months. The average economic price of flour for local wheat is estimated at about 2884.64 riyals / ton, while it is 2,657.33 riyals / ton for imported wheat. The high economic price of flour in the case of using local wheat is due to raising the price of receiving local wheat to 1700 riyals / ton, especially after the Russian-Ukrainian war. The amount of support for milling companies for local wheat amounted to about 1520 riyals / ton, while it amounted to 1386.04 riyals / ton for imported wheat. The overall value of government support for flour production in 2021 was 5,472.44 million riyals.