Good morning, friends. We close out the week with a compact issue, with the final string of agreements coming out of Egypt’s TransMEA transport expo and a few updates from across the region.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY-Iraq’s Transport Ministry is planning to build 30 train stations for freight and passengers across 11 governorates as part of its USD 17 bn Development Road Project, with 15 slated for freight transport.

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

HAPPENING TODAY-

TheIntra-African Trade Fair kicks off today in Cairo, Egypt, and runs until 15 November at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre and Al Manara International Conference Centre in Cairo, Egypt. The event — which takes place in collaboration with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat — will showcase goods, services, and investments from African countries, with the goal of establishing efficient channels for trade between African countries.

The global freight recession is expected to continue into 2024, according to a supply chain survey by CNBC. Some expect no growth in the freight market in the first two quarters of 2024, but hope volumes increase in the second half, including CEO of OL USA Alan Baer. Soft pricing in the shipping sector is expected to continue in 2024, and could even remain in 2025, he added.

Details: Ocean freight prices for Q1 and Q2 are expected to go unchanged or drop from 2023 rates. Air freight prices are also expected to remain the same or drop anywhere from 10% to 20%. Officials from the trucking sector expect lower freight orders and revenues as well as a “sluggish” retail peak season. Half of the respondents say they expect rates for full truck loads to remain unchanged or go down, and 33% predict a marginal rise of 5%.

The silver lining: Industry players expect a mild turnaround in freight volumes in 2H 2024, with 50% of respondents expecting a 5% increase and 33% expecting a 10% increase.

What’s next? Uber Freight’s CEO Lior Ron stressed that less diversified business models will be unable to operate on a cost-effective basis. This week, with the slowed cargo demand, FedEx told its pilots to look for additional work with American Airlines, Bloomberg reports, and Maersk has announced plans to slash 10k jobs.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Denmark plans to launch green shipping corridors initiative at COP: Copenhagen-based independent research and development center Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping is planning to make “substantial” contributions to COP28 activities, with a focus on moving forward with plans to build green shipping corridors across Europe, CEO and CSO of the center Tanja Dalgaard said in an interview with UAE’s Iris Media.

DP World is involved: The center will collaborate with DP World and other partners to bring the green corridor initiatives to life, Dalgaard said. Lenders including the International Monetary Fund recently identified a strong need for multilateral cooperation on trade policies to safeguard the global goals of averting climate change, which can be achieved through green corridors.

We have a rough timeline for the projects: Dalgaard unveiled that the first methanol ship is expected to be operational by 2026 and the first ammonia ship by 2028. However, smaller green corridors focused on specific regions and fuels will be launched sooner.

Egypt will eventually be linked to Europe’s corridors: Last month, Egypt signed a framework agreement with C2X — which is owned by AP Moller Holding and AP Moller-Maersk — worth some USD 3 bn for the production of green methanol and its derivatives. This is part of a larger plan to reach an annual production output of over 3 mn tons by 2030 by pursuing large-scale green methanol projects near the Suez Canal in Egypt and the port of Huelva in Spain, among several other planned locations.

HELP SUPPORT GAZANS-

Want to support relief efforts in Gaza, but don’t know how? We’ve got you. More than a mn people in Gaza have been thrown from their homes and every human being there lacks access to food, water, and fuel amid the most intense bombardment any population has endured this century. The charities we’re listing below are organizations working on Gaza relief that we think you can trust if you want to make a donation.

#1- Egyptian Red Crescent Society is one of the Egypt’s leading providers of humanitarian and emergency medical services. The Egypt Red Crescent accepts donations in EGP online and is on Fawry with the service code 99981. You can also donate to the organization through this Banque du Caire account: 49/403/30 (EGP) or 1065/601/30 (USD — code: BCAIEGCX030).

#2- The Emirates Red Crescent Authority has launched the Tarahum — For Gaza campaign and is accepting donations online via What’s App, SMS, Apple Pay, credit card, or bank transfer to ADIB (AE370500000000020000417).

#3-The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has launched the Sahem campaign accepting donations via their website, mobile apps on Apple Store and Google Play, or bank transfer to Al Rajhi Bank (SA5580000504608018899998).

#4- UNICEF has been on the ground in Gaza since the start of the crisis, providing urgent supplies and aid. You can donate to the agency directly using your card in your local currency here.

ALSO- The folks at Talabat are processing donations for a range of Gaza relief appeals by charities including the Egyptian Food Bank, Misr El Kheir and the Emirates Red Crescent Authority’s Tarahum campaign. You can make the donation via the Talabat app using your credit card.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The China International Import Expo will take place from 5 to 10 November at the National Convention and Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China. The event aims to expand international trade and facilitate greater access to the Chinese market. KSA’s Ports Authority has announced that Mawani, represented by Jeddah Islamic Port, will be attending the conference to showcase Saudi ports, according to a statement.

TheGCC-Türkiye Economic Forum will kick off on 11-13 November at Çırağan Palace Kempinski Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. The forum will allow the GCC and Turkey to explore potential areas of cooperation, increase bilateral trade, and establish networks for joint projects, according to the forum website. The event will feature a number of Turkish and GCC speakers and panelists from sectors including trade, investment, industry and logistics, infrastructure, agriculture and food, and sports.

The third Caspian Economic Forum will be held in mid-November in Iran, state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency reports. The event is set to focus on transportation, joint ventures, oil and gas, finance, banking and technical cooperation in Iran, with Alireza Jahangiri, Iran’s deputy foreign caspian sea affairs minister, calling on economic institutions to attend, IRNA adds. The exact location and dates of the forum have yet to be confirmed.

The Dubai Air Show will be held from 13-17 November at DWC, at the Dubai Airshow site, in Dubai. The event will feature over 180 aircraft including business jets, drones, commercial airlines, military jets, helicopters, and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The event will also gather decision makers to discuss the latest trends and challenges across the aviation industry, and how to drive sustainable aviation operations.

The Supply Chain & Logistics Arabia summit is set to take place on 14-15 November at Narcissus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event will feature several panel discussions on matters including the future of supply chain, digitalisation and technology, procurement, warehouses, distribution and fulfillment, and last mile issues.

The IATA Slot Conference is set to take place on 14-17 November at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE. The business meeting will host over 1k delegates, with representatives of more than 200 slot coordinated airports and over 225 airlines from across the world. The event allows the global airline community to meet for quick optimisation of planned schedules and to explore chances for growing routes and networks.

The Global Freight Summit 2023 will be taking place on 15-17 November at the Coca Cola Arena, Dubai, UAE. Hosted by DP World, the event aims to create a platform for the international freight forwarding and supply chain communities, bringing together industry leaders and the global freight community to discuss challenges that are prevalent across the sector. The event will be held under the theme Making the Future Supply Chain a Reality, with the aim of exploring how industry stakeholders can take action to face these challenges.

The first GCC-Egyptian Business Forum will be held on 22-23 November in Cairo, Egypt, Bahrain News Agency reports. The event is being held under the theme Business, Investment, Partnership, with a focus on investment opportunities in real estate, agriculture, the food industry, and tourism in the region. The event is hosted by the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce and organized in cooperation with the Federation of Gulf Cooperation Council.

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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