Doing Business in Saudi Arabia - International Franchise Association

educe its soybean import subsidy from $396 per metric ton in March 2008 to $101 in January
2009. The rebate is paid directly to importers. Currently, Saudi Arabia imports about 800,000
metric tons of soybean meal per year.
Year/Description 2007 2008 2009
Total Consumption 520 480 400
Total Local Production 0 0 0
Total Exports 0 0 0
Total Imports 520 480 400
Imports from the U.S. 50 84 55
Source: Trade estimates and U.S. Customs official data
Value: In millions of U.S. dollars
RICE (0422110) Return to top
Overview
Saudi Arabia imports more than one million metric tons of rice annually. With 60 percent market
share, Indian remained the dominant rice supplier to Saudi Arabia, followed by Pakistan, United
States and Thailand. In 2008, the value of the United States rice exports to Saudi Arabia
reached $117 million, an increase of 47 percent compared to 2007. According to a recent U.S.
Customs data, U.S. rice exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 10 percent in January-October
2009 compared to the same period last year ($109 million vs. $99 million). Local rice importers
attribute the sharp increase in U.S. exports in recent years to a decrease in exportable rice from
India and U.S. price competitiveness compared to other Asian rice exporters. The higher values
of total rice imports in 2007 and 2008 reflect the sharp increase in the world prices for rice
during that period. In November 2009, the Saudi government removed the $267 per metric ton
subsidy on imported rice which it decreed in December 2007. The Saudi government lifted the
import subsidy due to reduced world rice prices compared to 2007 and early 2008.
Year/Description 2007 2008 2009
Total Consumption 750 700 620
Total Local Production 0 0 0
Total Exports 0 0 0
Total Imports 800 670 800
Imports from the U.S. 80 117 130
Source: Trade estimates and U.S. Customs official data
Value: In millions of U.S. dollars
PROCESSED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Return to top
Overview
The Saudi market for processed fruits and vegetables is huge. The growth of supermarket and
hypermarket food sales is helping to broaden the market for this sector and good market growth
is expected to continue in the next few years as supermarkets and hypermarkets open more
outlets in major cities of the Kingdom. Local production of canned fruit and vegetables has
been increasing in recent years but it depends almost entirely on imported ingredients, some of
which are sourced from the United States. The majority of the processed fruit and vegetables