Saudi state-owned mining company Maaden, which plans an initial public offering in July, has said it has secured loans worth several billion dollars from Saudi and Korean institutions for its phosphate project.

A statement on the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the financing included direct loans of $1.07 billion from the Public Investment Fund and $135 million from the Industrial Development Fund.
The facilities included a loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim).
It has also signed a contract for insurance coverage for 16 years.
SPA cited Maaden chief Abdullah al-Dabbagh as saying this financing, in addition to the SR9.25 billion ($2.47 billion) it hopes to raise in the IPO, would cover the costs of a phosphate project it is developing with Sabic.
Maaden said last year the bill for the phosphate venture had soared to SR21 billion, 62 per cent more than it had expected previously, due to a rise in labour and material costs on the international construction market.
Maaden will own 70 per cent of the venture and Sabic the remainder.
The syndicated facilities comprise $2.06 billion in 16-year conventional and Islamic facilities, a $200 million 16-year Korean Export Insurance Corporation covered facility, a $400 million 16-year facility provided by the Export-Import Bank of Korea, and a $100 million revolving working capital facility.
The phosphate project is being developed in a joint venture with Sabic, through a limited liability company called Maaden Phosphate Company (MPC) incorporated in Saudi Arabia.
The joint venture will mine phosphate reserves at Al-Jalamid, north of Saudi Arabia, to produce phosphate fertilisers at a new purpose-built processing facility at Ras Az Zawr, located on the central east coast 90 kilometers north of Jubail.