{"id":558152,"date":"2021-09-29T13:35:33","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T13:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/09\/29\/this-evening-a-really-slow-news-day-here-at-home-but-were-keeping-a-watchful-eye-on-signs-that-twin-food-commodity-and-energy-crises-may-be-brewing-abroad\/"},"modified":"2021-09-29T13:35:33","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T13:35:33","slug":"this-evening-a-really-slow-news-day-here-at-home-but-were-keeping-a-watchful-eye-on-signs-that-twin-food-commodity-and-energy-crises-may-be-brewing-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/09\/29\/this-evening-a-really-slow-news-day-here-at-home-but-were-keeping-a-watchful-eye-on-signs-that-twin-food-commodity-and-energy-crises-may-be-brewing-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS EVENING: A really slow news day here at home, but we\u2019re keeping a watchful eye on signs that twin food commodity and energy crises may be brewing abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> How slow of a news day is it? <\/strong>Let\u2019s put it this way: We\u2019re really worked up that the cabinet has signed off on amendments to the Traffic Act that, if passed by the House, would make it legal for 16-year-olds to ride e-bikes<\/a> on city streets. That\u2019s about the best we can do in the manufactured-outrage department.<\/p>\n

(The Madbouly government recently launched a campaign headlined \u201cYour bike, your health\u201d<\/a> to sell subsidized bicycles and e-bikes. The link for reservations is here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The only business-relevant stories of note so far today are no more thrilling: <\/strong>The EGX30 closed down 0.5% today in notably light trading. Conventional wisdom on the street has it that (a) retail investors are still letting us know they\u2019re brassed off about the prospect of paying capital gains on their portfolios starting next year and (b) that some folks are exiting positions to make available the liquidity they need to buy into e-Finance\u2019s ongoing IPO.<\/p>\n

ALSO:<\/strong> EGX boss Mohamed Farid inked an agreement (pdf)<\/a> to work with the Egyptian Businessmen's Association to build a database of companies that are good prospects to IPO in the future.<\/p>\n

See what we mean? As it was this morning, THE BIG STORY TODAY is abroad, not here at home:<\/p>\n

<\/a> HAPPENING NOW- Health Minister Hala Zayed is on a visit to Germany to discuss <\/strong>cooperation in the health sector<\/strong>, according to Youm7<\/a>. Zayed is set to talk with officials at Mercedes about the supply of 1k ambulances and some 1k medical mobile clinics. The minister will also be meeting with execs from health tech outfit Siemens.<\/p>\n

Will we be making BioNTech \/ Pfizer here in Egypt? <\/strong>Zayed had previously said<\/a> that she will be meeting with BioNTech officials to discuss the possibility.<\/p>\n

ALSO HAPPENING NOW- Don\u2019t hold your breath \u2014 consumer activity in the eurozone is <\/strong>back <\/strong>to pre-pandemic levels, but\u2026<\/strong> high energy prices and supply-chain disruptions could upend all of that<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> Which brings us to our BIG STORY OF THE DAY: The world could be looking at twin <\/strong>energy and food crises this winter<\/strong>, developments that are of particular interest to us here in Egypt, where we export natural gas to Europe \u2014 and import the vast majority of our foodstuffs.<\/p>\n

Food and agricultural commodity prices are at risk of rising as China looks at a difficult <\/strong>harvest season<\/strong>, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. China is currently facing power shortages<\/a> that are hitting industrial hubs just as the fall harvest gets underway \u2014 and \u201camong the worst hit [regions] are northeastern provinces where about half of China\u2019s corn and soybeans are grown. \u2026 The power shortage has forced soybean processors in northern regions to shut \u2026 [and there\u2019s] also concern that the electricity crunch could cut operating rates of corn processors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throw in a bad year for crops in Brazil<\/strong>, which as we noted yesterday have been \u201cscorched,<\/a>frozen and then dried out by the worst drought in a century<\/a>,\u201d and it could be a nasty winter for food prices globally.<\/p>\n

The latest on a (simultaneous? global?) energy crunch: <\/strong>With winter fast approaching, officials in Beijing are looking to\u201cquell power crunch fears\u201d<\/a> by \u201cdemanding railway companies and local authorities raise their game in shipping vital coal supplies to utilities. One continent over, the UK has followed through on a plan to have soldiers drive tankers to replenish filling stations with petrol<\/a> as panic buying continues to see long lines and empty pumps.<\/p>\n

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** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from today\u2019s EnterpriseAM:<\/strong><\/p>\n