Chery to return to the Saudi market

Good morning, all. Our big story today is all about Burjeel Holdings’ Saudi expansion — we speak to Chairman and CEO Shamsheer Vayalil to get the inside track on the company’s plan, which will prioritize specialized day surgery centers. We also talk to Merak Capital Principal Abdulaziz Alsaid for a deep dive into ZYA, the Kingdom’s first fashion-dedicated PE fund.

PSAs

Real estate registration for 1.5k plots across the Makkah, Tabuk, and Riyadh regions starts next week, Sunday through Thursday, the Real Estate General Authority (Rega) said in a statement. This round covers parts of three neighborhoods in Makkah's Taif, plots in Tabuk’s Umluj, and plots in Riyadh's Afif. Owners can register through the Real Estate Registry platform or at service centers.

REMEMBER- Rega completed the registration process for all real estate zones within Riyadh's urban areas in May, finishing the city’s digital real estate map.

Chery to return to the Saudi market in 4Q

Chinese automaker Chery aims to re-enter the Saudi market in 4Q 2026, according to a press release. The company plans to introduce a new product lineup with advanced features, such as the super-intelligent valet parking, which allows drivers to remotely instruct vehicles to find a parking space or drive autonomously from a parking spot to a designated pickup point.

REMEMBER- The auto giant has other ongoing expansion plans into the Saudi market, including an aluminum smelter developed in partnership with the National Environmental Recycling. The project will have an initial production capacity of 50k tons per year and will produce aluminum for car manufacturing.

Gulf skies hold

Middle East travel demand has clawed back to as much as 90% pre-war levels — enough to keep Airbus confident Gulf carriers can shake off the Iran war disruption and keep adding capacity, Bloomberg reported last week. The planemaker expects the region's major carriers, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, to keep expanding their fleets.

Airbus’ wider outlook is still positive, just flatter. It expects global traffic to grow 2% this year and 3.9% annually over the next two decades, with China, India, emerging Asian markets, and the Gulf driving demand. It sees 42k aircraft deliveries over the period — slightly below last year's forecast — with single-aisle jets accounting for around 80% of the total at 34k units.

Our take: Gulf carriers anchor a large share of Airbus and Boeing's widebody order books. Their business model depends on pulling global traffic through Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and other regional hubs — Emirates alone operates the world's largest fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s, which is why Airbus' read on Gulf demand matters well beyond the region.

More capacity for Jeddah port

The Saudi Port Authority (Mawani) invested SAR 641 mn in Jeddah Islamic Port in 2Q, raising handling efficiency and competitiveness, it said in a statement. The investment expands container terminal yards by 200k sqm, adds three ship-to-shore cranes, 27 rubber-tyred gantry cranes, 91 terminal trucks, and seven pieces of ground handling equipment. Mawani also boosted the port's refrigerated cargo capacity.

Why it matters: This development underscores a growing dependence on Red Sea ports for trade and logistics following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as the port’s exports grew 37.6% y-o-y and imports were up 51.2% in the first half of April 2026. The Kingdom has been augmenting its logistics corridors initiative to position Jeddah, Yanbu, and King Abdullah ports as fallback gateways for Gulf trade.

Data point

SAR 4.6 bn — that’s the value of municipal investment contracts signed through the Furas platform in 1H 2026, after launching more than 13k potential investments across the Kingdom, the Municipalities and Housing Ministry said in a press release. The platform operates municipal assets spanning agriculture, industry, commerce, education, healthcare, tourism, entertainment, transport, and real estate.

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The big story abroad

It’s a quiet Monday morning on the global front pages save for the latest escalations in the regional war.

The US military launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Rejecting Tehran’s claims that it has closed the waterway, the US Central Command announced new strikes designed to weaken Iran’s ability to target commercial vessels. Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported explosions in cities along the strait.

Iran launched at least three waves of missiles and drones at Gulf nations, targeting US military bases across Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. The strikes were in retaliation for bombings in southern Iran, state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported.

Oil markets jolted: The escalations sent Brent crude prices up 3% to USD 78 a barrel at the open of Asian trading, while West Texas Intermediate surged 4% to USD 79 a barrel. Oil prices have been steadily falling, inching towards their pre-war level of USD 72.5, since the US and Iran announced their framework agreement — prices hit a war peak of USD 126 a barrel in April.