Metalflow Alliance Saudi Arabia 2025 from May 5 to 7 in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia is a country with about 34.4 million inhabitants whose economy, according the OECD, is poised for substantial growth with a GDP projected to increase from 1.2% in 2024 to 3.8% in 2025. In this context, the country’s transformation program Vision 2030 plays an important role aiming to diversify its economy and to reduce its dependence on oil.

Since wires, cables, tubes, pipes and the products made from them are needed everywhere, Saudi Arabia is a large market for these industrial sectors and their suppliers. That is why the market is looking forward to the Metalflow Alliance Saudi Arabia, which will take place in Riyadh from 5 to 7 May 2025 and, as a global umbrella brand, combines the seven Düsseldorf trade fairs wire, Tube, VALVE WORLD EXPO and GMTN with the two major Saudi trade fairs Metal & Steel Saudi Arabia and Saudi Projects. The focus here is on the news and trends of the economically booming Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Wires, cables and other wire products
wires and cables are necessary for the transmission of electric power and electronic data. The market research company Grand View Research puts the revenue generated by the wires and cables market in Saudi Arabia in 2023 at US$9.4 bn and expects it to reach US$13 bn by 2030, growing with a CAGR of 4.7% from 2024 to 2030 (Fig. 1).

The development of the wires and cables market is driven by infrastructure and urban development projects to meet the demands of the country's rapidly growing population. Under the Vision 2030 program, Arabia plans to develop ports, railway lines and airports. Saudi Arabia is also undergoing a digital transformation across various sectors, including IT and data centers. All these projects require electric and telecommunication systems to support operation, thereby boosting the demand for various types of cables. The expansion of electricity transmission lines, the creation of an intelligent electricity distribution system, the development of huge projects to exploit the sources of renewable energy, the growing e-commerce sector with its increased demand for data and communication cables and advancements in the electromobility sector are further drivers of the wires and cables market.

Construction and infrastructure projects also require building materials such as wire rods made from carbon steel. Steel wires are necessary for the manufacture of reinforcements but also for wire ropes, fasteners and springs. The market research firm BlueWeave Consulting estimates the size of Saudi Arabia’s carbon steel wire rod market at US$0.6 bn in 2024 and expects it to boom in the period between 2025 and 2031 at a CAGR of 6.8% reaching a value of US$0.9 bn by 2031.

Tubular goods
Pipes, tubes and hollow profiles are needed for the transmission of liquids, gases, free-flowing substances or as mechanical structures. Saudi Arabia has a huge demand for seamless steel pipes and tubes used by its oil and gas industry to transport crude oil, natural gas, petroleum products and other fluids from sources to refineries or end-users. Infrastructure projects including the desalination of seawater, water distribution, construction activities, the energy sector, chemical processing plants and other industries also drive the market.

BlueWeave Consulting estimates the size of Saudi Arabia’s steel pipes and steel tubes market at US$0.4 bn in 2023 and expects it to expand between 2024 and 2030 at a CAGR of 5.1% reaching a value of US$0.6 bn by 2030.

Also, Saudi Arabia’s PVC pipes market is promising. According to the market research company Expert Market Research, it reached a value of US$1 bn in 2024 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2025 and 2034 to reach a value of about US$1.9 bn by 2034.

Electricity and water demand
According to information of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (eia) published in October 2024, Saudi Arabia generated 453 TWh of electricity in 2023, with 62% from gas, 38% from oil and less than 1% from renewable power sources (Fig. 2). However, electricity generation from renewable sources increased from 1 TWh to 3 TWh in 2023. Saudi Arabia seeks that renewable sources will represent 50% of the electricity generation capacity by 2030, with over 21 GW in planned renewable energy projects as of mid-2024. From those projects, 9.7 GW are planned for completion through 2026.

Electricity consumption, on the other side, increased by 6% from 372 TWh in 2021 to 393 TWh in 2022, by another 5% in 2023 and has continued increasing since then.

Water desalination represented 6% of Saudi Arabia’s electricity consumption in 2020. In 2021, the country desalinated about 6 million m³ of water per day in 32 plants. Now, the water desalination capacity has reached 15 million m³ per day in more than 40 desalination plants, a figure which is equivalent to the world's daily oil production.

Outlook
In view of challenging market requirements, Saudi Arabia’s manufacturers of wire, cable and tubular products need technologically up-to-date equipment to remain competitive. The wire and Tube trade fairs in Saudi Arabia provide an ideal opportunity for equipment manufacturers to show their innovations while visitors get access to information about the state-of-the-art.