Good morning, friends. We have a packed issue for you this morning, with plenty of updates from Egypt — and a whole lot of aviation and trade news.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Egypt inaugurated its multipurpose maritime terminal Tahya Misr at Alexandria’s port on Thursday, as part of a state-led drive to turn Egypt into a regional trade hub. Meanwhile, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) could launch the Boeing 777 passenger-to-freight (P2F) conversion facility in Abu Dhabi International Airport by 2H 2023.

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.

That said, we’re looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

During the program you will learn:

  • The key news stories and trends shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region, across various sectors;
  • Business and finance for non-finance people: Whether it’s industry jargon or key concepts or simply how to read a balance sheet;
  • How to construct an Enterprise story: From idea formulation down to the structure, style and tone of writing;
  • How to develop sources that will give you the key insights needed to tell a complete story;
  • How to communicate these stories with the confidence and language of an insider.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists, while also working on and filing stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) CEO Walid Gamal El Din led a delegation to New Delhi in its third stop on an Asian roadshow, in a bid to attract Indian investments to ports and industrial zones in Egypt, namely Sokhna and Port Said, according to an SCZone statement. The focus of the roadshow is on diversifying investments in energy, infrastructure, petrochemicals, heavy industries, and green fuel, as well as enhancing cooperation in the logistics sector. The delegation includes industrial developers and representatives from Orascom Industrial Parks, El Sewedy Industrial Development, and East Port Said Development.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1-Iran’s Razi terminal on the Turkish border will be inaugurated within the next few days, according to Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (RTMO), Mehr News Agency reports. The new three-story terminal, which can operate around the clock, will facilitate the transport of cargo trucks and passengers between Iran and Turkey and will cut three hours of processing time to 15 minutes, according to RTMO data, the agency reports.

The terminal aims to boost bilateral trade to help the two countries reach a USD 30 bn target in annual exchange. Construction of the border terminal began in 2019, with USD 25 mn spent on the project so far, according to the news agency.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- More interest in Iraq’s Development Road Project:Companies from countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the GCC are interested in participating in Iraq’s USD 17 bn Development Road Project, said Nasser Al Asadi, a transport advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA). Iraq will kickstart bilateral talks with each of the interested parties in those countries to determine the nature of their partnership and the priority areas of investment, Al Asadi said.

Syria could also be involved: The country has stressed its previous suggestion to open up a path linking the Grand Faw Port to Syrian ports, allowing exports to travel from Faysh Khabur on the border between Syria and Iraq to Turkey, according to INA.

REMEMBER- China, Hungary, and Lebanon are some of the countries that have expressed their interest in participating in the project. Al Asadi added that Iraq has approved a feasibility study for the project conducted by an Italian company, INAreports.

DATA POINT #1-Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) has seen a 24% y-o-y increase in Chinese companies inside the freezone so far this year, according to a statement. The announcement follows a roadshow that took place in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing, during which DMCC inked an MoU with the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (LGSAC) to cooperate on trade, logistics, commerce, and innovation. “With over 770 Chinese companies in our freezone, a figure which is growing all the time, China is one of the most strategically important markets for DMCC,” said DMCC CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem.

DATA POINT #2-US planemaker Boeing expects the aviation industry globally to add c. 42.5k jets valued at about USD 8 tn through 2042, Boeing VP of marketing Darren Hulst told Bloomberg. Boeing’s predictions take into consideration climate change altering travel globally and a rising advocacy against the industry’s emissions. Hulst says airlines would still find ways to raise productivity of their fleets by moving to large jets with denser seating patterns and the global fleet stands to nearly double through 2042 at an annual rate of 3.5%, up from a previous forecast of 2.6%.

The World Bank estimates that a shipping carbon tax could raise revenues of up to USD 40-60 bn a year between 2025 and 2050,it said in a recent report (pdf). A carbon levy in shipping could take the shape of a feebate or an emissions trading scheme, the international lender said. These proceeds can be diverted to accelerating decarbonization in global shipping, improving port facilities in the developing world, and aiding poorer countries’ transition towards clean energy. A cleverly designed tax can serve the dual goals of giving impetus to the decarbonization agenda while also smoothing the energy transition of the world’s most vulnerable economies, the World Bank indicated.

The US, France, and Denmark are also on board for a carbon tax in shipping, Splash reports. Their calls join urgent appeals from the group of Pacific nations for a carbon levy on shipping starting at USD 100 per tonne.

MARKET WATCH- “Growth in world oil demand is set to slow during the 2022-28 forecast period as the energy transition advances,” according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2023 medium-term outlook report (pdf) on global trends in oil demand and supply. However, absolute consumption is still expected to increase to 105.7 mn barrels per day (bbl / d) by 2028, an increase of 5.9 mn bbl / d from 2022 levels. World oil trade is experiencing an “unprecedented sea change” that is unlikely to be reversed in the near future, due to international bans on Russian oil products, according to the Baltic Exchange.

By the numbers: The report estimates that 2.5 mn bbl / d of Russian crude have been withdrawn from Europe and G7 countries. The disruptions have led to the redirection of oil flows and the search for alternative suppliers. European refiners have turned to other suppliers, such as the US and the Middle East, while Russian volumes have been redirected to other regions including, Turkey, East of Suez, Latin America, and Africa.

World bunker fuel consumption is expected to reach 4.5k mn bbl / d by 2028, an increase of 300k bbl / d. Robust trade growth will be offset by tightening efficiency standards. Depending on how quickly older and less efficient vessels are replaced, the report anticipates that the average gain in fuel efficiency for global shipping could reach approximately 10% over the six-year period.

Saudi oil tankers carrying a record volume of crude oil have been spotted off the Red Sea coast: Oil tankers carrying over 20 mn barrels of Saudi crude oil have reportedly anchored off the Red Sea coast of Egypt, marking the highest volume of stationary oil observed since the covid pandemic in 2Q 2020, according to a Vortexa note seen by Asharq Business. This increase could possibly be attributed to an increase in demand for the Saudi crude oil in Europe, Vortexa’s lead crude oil analyst Jay Maroo wrote in the note.

Kuwait’s Al Zour refinery has issued a term tender for fuel oil sales for July to December loading as it continues to ramp up its third crude distillation unit (CDU), Reuters reports. Al Zour is expected to become a major global low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) exporter once operations are fully ramped up. The refinery’s term tender — which closes on 19 June — offered LSFO with a maximum sulfur content of 0.5% for 2H 2023, sources said. The first cargo, around 100k metric tons, is expected to load between 15 and 19 July. The total volume for the entire contract ranges from 80k to 720k metric tons. The refinery’s third CDU is set to boost operations starting July.

The Enterprise Finance Forum is our flagship gathering — the one so many of you have been waiting for. The two-day event takes place this September and will be the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings. Stay tuned for more information on the location.

TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations just after the 30 June holiday.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Email mtaalab@enterpriseadvisory.com.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our exciting agenda in the weeks to come.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Coupa Inspire’s Supply Chain Summit kicks off today and is running till Wednesday in ExCel Exhibition Centre, in London.The three day summit will bring together supply chain leaders and practitioners, to share insights on how to build resilient and agile supply chains, as well as the role of procurement and finance in improving business resilience, and growth.

The two-day Jordan-Iraq Economic Forum, organized by the Iraqi Business Council in Jordan will begin tomorrow in Amman. The forum — held under the slogan of “Building Bridges of Joint Prosperity” — will provide a platform for the countries to reap their common interests and establish joint partnerships, with a focus on enhancing commercial, industrial, and investment relations between the countries. The forum will focus on industry, finance, communications, information technology, contracting, energy, and mining and will also feature an exhibition to showcase products and help boost trade between the two countries.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

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