Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world's largest petrochemicals maker by market value, said Saturday it withdrew from a $1.5-billion iron ore mining project in Mauritania due to poor return on investment.
"The return on investment is not up to Sabic's expectations," the Saudi firm said in a statement on the bourse website. It didn't give more details.
Sabic in July signed an agreement to acquire 34.9% in a Mauritania iron ore mining and development firm for 982.5 million Saudi riyals ($262 million).
The agreement was signed with Societe Nationale Industrielle et Miniere, Qatar Steel Co. and Australia's Sphere Investments.
The project was planned to have production capacity of 7 million tons a year when completed in 2010.
