Egypt's Suez Canal Authority signed a USD500mn deal with Saudi Prince Walid bin Saud to set up a joint iron and steel company in partnership with the Saudi's Foundation of International Expertise. The company will build an iron and steel factory in the northwest of the Gulf of Suez, with production capacity of 1.2mn tonnes a year. The deal takes the total value of investments agreed so far to USD1bn, according to the head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish. It marks the beginning of a series of contracts to establish more industries in Egypt, bin Saud said. (Reuters)