RIYADH: A 17-member Saudi trade delegation led by Ahmed Al-Hayat left for United States on Monday. The US Department of Commerce will organize meetings between the Saudi entrepreneurs and their American counterparts and networking sessions with US companies, the American mission said here on Monday. “One of my top priorities as ambassador is to bolster trade and investment relations,” said US Ambassador James B. Smith. During the visit, the Saudi delegates will attend the SUPERCOMM 2009 trade show in Chicago.
Southern Cement Q3 net down 5.4%
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Southern Province Cement Co. (SPCC), the Kingdom’s largest cement maker by market value, posted a 5.4 percent fall in third-quarter net profit due to a long-standing exports ban. Quarterly earnings amounted to SR141 million ($37.60 million) compared with SR149 million in the same period a year ago, the firm said in a statement on the bourse website on Tuesday.
US wholesale prices slide 0.6%
WASHINGTON: US wholesale prices fell 0.6 percent amid a sharp drop in energy costs, the government said on Tuesday in a report showing a lack of inflation pressures. The Labor Department said its producer price index reflected a 2.4 percent drop in energy costs, which accounted for 90 percent of the overall decline. On a year-over-year basis, prices were down 4.8 percent.
