Shaeel Al-Ayed, head of the National Committee for Iron, said 8 steel factories are operating in the market without licenses. He said these companies produce more than one million tons of poor quality iron, and only six large companies are operating with necessary licenses.

Al-Ayed said these companies are operated by Asian workers, and lack any licenses or quality production practices, despite the fact that each company produces between 150,000 to 300,000 tons. He demanded the arrest of workers and the shutting down of these plants to avoid a negative impact on the consumer. Al-Ayed said iron is produced, or melted and transformed into another type of iron, without any consideration for necessary quality specifications. In turn, the iron is purchased due to its low price of around SR20, but becomes rusty and does not last for more than two years.

Al-Ayed said the objection is not the existence of these companies, but rather their production without licenses and potential negative impact on consumer safety.

He said most consumers cannot differentiate between different levels of quality and know little about the necessary specifications that go into production by depending on the type and purpose of usage.

Al-Ayed stressed the need to protect the market and consumers from such counterfeit products, and sample the products to ensure appropriate quality. If production proves to be good, he said these workers and companies should be granted licenses rather than working informally.

Meanwhile, an iron trader, who preferred to remain anonymous, said these factories produce iron without licenses deliberately in order to attract more consumers in terms of their lower pricing.

In the opinion of Saleh Habdan, vice chairman of the Committee of Contractors at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the purchase of counterfeit iron and products that do not comply with the necessary standards is done in the private sector.