Why Does Saudi Arabia Import Sand From England?

“To carry coals to Newcastle” means to bring something to a place where it already abounds.

We might just as well say “to carry sand to Saudi Arabia,” for that nation is mostly a vast sand-strewn desert.

But sand is carried to Saudi Arabia! England exports tons of sand scooped up from river bottoms to Saudi Arabia, where it is used for making cement and other building materials that cannot be made from desert sand.