RIYADH, (Reuters) – Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the kingdom largest steel maker, has raised prices by almost 30 percent, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The increase, apparently in the price of rebar, came at a time of surging demand and supply bottlenecks.

SABIC raised prices by 26.9-29.6 percent to between 3,850-4,255 riyals ($1,027-1,135) per tonne depending on specifications, al-Madina newspaper reported, without disclosing the source of the information.

“SABIC started distributing the new price list among retailers on Monday,” it said.

State-controlled SABIC’s steel subsidiary Hadeed has a production capacity of about 5.5 million tonnes according to Arab Steel Web site.

Mutlaq al-Morished, SABIC’s chief financial officer, could not immediately comment on the report when contacted by Reuters.

In February, SABIC cut prices of reinforcing steel by 4.8 percent to 2,980 riyals per tonne, but kept the price of steel bars unchanged, traders have said.

Saudi steel producers have a combined annual capacity of 8.43 million tonnes. Other steel producers in the kingdom include Rajhi Steel and al-Tuwairqi Group.