Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement worth $2.8 billion with Trafigura Singapore to set up the first copper smelter in the kingdom, said a Reuters report.

Trafigura Singapore is a unit of Netherlands-based Trafigura, a leading independent commodity trading and logistics house.

The project aims to produce 400,000 tonnes of copper; 200,000 tonnes of zinc; and 55,000 tonnes of lead annually, added the report.