TODAY: Aviation disruptions increase as Palestine-Israel war + A new bridge for Iran, Azerbaijan will begin operating in two months

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The news cycle is largely being dominated by the ongoing violence in the region, with the market and logistics-related ripple effect beginning to form.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- The war erupting between Palestine and Israel is beginning to have logistics-related repercussions, including flight suspensions and air travel warnings. Meanwhile, the markets are beginning to react in earnest, with crude oil and natural gas futures jumping yesterday.

^^ We have everything on this story and more in the news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Iraq will be able to trade and exchange electricity with GCC countries after being linked to the Gulf Electricity Market Project today, according to Trade Arabia. The platform will enable the electricity exchange through bilateral and multilateral agreements, the outlet writes. Iraq’s admission to the platform will enable it to access cross-border trade among the Gulf countries in a streamlined manner, and will provide flexibility by enabling it to trade collectively, separately, or individually, with GCC members, according to the outlet.

Intermodal Europe 2023 begins today at RAI Amsterdam in the Netherlands and will run till Thursday. The event brings together representatives from the container shipping and intermodal transport sectors, including cold chain, technology, containers, transport and tracking, together for three days of networking and industry collaboration.

The Cool Logistics Global 2023 conference also begins today at the Genoa Stock Exchange in Genoa, Italy, and will run through Thursday. The three-day conference will bring together analysts, cargo owners, and cold chain logistics stakeholders to discuss key challenges facing the sector. The first day of the event will focus on the transition to net zero, while the second day of the conference will focus on innovation, technology, cool cargo operations, infrastructure, and assets, with the final day focusing on perishables trade and cold chain logistics in Italy and the wider Mediterranean.

PSA - Maersk calls on importers of steel + iron products to prove compliance to anti-Russia sanctions: Maersk has notified clients shipping steel and iron products that fall under the purview of EU sanctions against Russia to ensure that their cargoes have documents proving compliance, according to a recent notice. The sanctions ban the import or purchase of products manufactured in a third country using iron or steel sourced from Russia. Customers handling such products must accordingly provide documents proving that iron and steel components are of non-Russian origin. The notice also stresses that Maersk has no obligations with regard to compiling required documents.

Iran has launched its first refrigerated container ship for exporting horticultural products and citrus fruits, Tasnim News Agency reports, citing the CEO of Caspian Sea Shipping Company. This ship will operate between the Iranian ports of Amirabad and Bandar Anzali and the Russian ports of Makhachkala and Astrakhan. The Caspian Sea Shipping Company is ready to provide more refrigerated vessels for horticultural products upon request from exporters, he said. The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) owns a “considerable number” of refrigerated vessels that can be utilized by the Caspian Sea Shipping Company when needed, he added.

Ir aq has yet to receive official notification from Turk ey on the resumption of oil flows, Iraqi oil officials told Alarabiya. This comes in response to statements made by Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar last week indicating that operations on the crude oil pipeline would resume within a few days. Flows across the pipeline were stopped in March due to an arbitration ruling that ordered Turkey to discontinue flows and shell out USD 1.5 bn to Iraq in compensation for damages. Baghdad and Ankara had earlier agreed to carry out maintenance on the pipeline in preparation for the resumption of flows while continuing to litigate their dispute over damages, Alarabiya said.

Iran and Azerbaijan develop their cross border li nks as new bridge comes into play: The coming two months will see a newly constructed bridge over the Astarachay River begin operations, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash told Azerbaijan’s Trend news agency. The connection is set to open new pathways for cross border trade and contributes to the larger International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) logistics infrastructure drive that aims to develop road, rail, and maritime links between Iran, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

There was a scare at Hamburg’s airport: Operations at Hamburg’s airport resumed on Monday after authorities sounded the all-clear on a bomb threat, Reuters reported. Police searched an airliner carrying 198 passengers from Tehran after receiving a bomb threat via email, prompting authorities to temporarily stop all take-offs or landings at the airport, the newswire wrote.

WATCH THIS SPACE- KSA + Turkey set to discuss enhancing logistics + transport ties: Saudi Arabian Transport and Logistics Services Minister Saleh Al Jasser is set to meet with Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulqadir Oral Oglu during a visit to Turkey to discuss strengthening bilateral transport and logistics ties, according to a statement. Al Jasser will also meet with other high level officials and companies to further promote economic cooperation between the two countries.

DATA POINT #1- Air cargo volumes continue to recov er in September: Global air cargo tonnage inched up 3% m-o-m in September, with rates increasing 5% during the same period, according to WorldACD Market Data cited by Transport & Logistics Middle East. The latest figures reflect a moderate post-summer rally in the global air freight market, which seems to have recovered from a year-and-a-half of continuous declines, the report says.

IATA figures for August also pointed to a recovery: Numbers published by IATA last week showed that global air freight volumes, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), were up 1.5% y-o-y in August, the first annual growth since February 2022. Middle Eastern airlines closely tracked the global trend with a 1.4% yearly increase in cargo volumes in August.

DATA POINT #2- The Port of Valencia saw a 2.07% m-o-m drop in export freights in September, marking the smallest decrease in the past year, Hellenic Shipping News reports. The Valencia Containerised Freight Index(VCFI) — which measures the trends and evolution of freight rates of the Valencian precinct — stood at 1.2k points in September. The VCFI is up 18.76% since the start of its tracking in January 2018. The index also showed export freight rates from Valenciaport docks to the Far East area starting to level out, decreasing only 0.24% as opposed to the 18.92% drop witnessed in July. The cost of shipping into the Western Mediterranean jumped 4.64%, marking the first increase in six months.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

A Saudi-Turkish Summit kicked off on Sunday in Istanbul, Turkey and will run till Thursday, 12 October. Organized by the Türkiye Exporters Assembly in coordination with the Turkish Commerce Ministry, the summit will be attended by Turkish exporters and 70 members of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Chamber of Commerce. The participants will also include representatives from an array of sectors including food, non-ferrous metals, textiles, ready-made garments, chemicals, and furniture.

The Supply Chain and Logistics Conference 2023 will take place on 22-23 October at the Four Seasons in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The conference will bring together supply chain decision makers to discuss ways that Saudi Arabia can strengthen its economy and make itself a global logistics center and hub connecting three continents in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The GCC-Türkiye Economic Forum is set to take place on 11-13 November in Çırağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey. The event will cover trade, investment and finance, energy, infrastructure, transportation and logistics, industry, tourism, agriculture and food, and sports sectors.

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