Good morning, friends. We have a brisk read for you this morning with the latest from the shipping chaos unfolding in the Red Sea and a couple of M&A stories emerging from the UAE.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY-Four of the world’s largest shipping outfits — Mediterranean Shipping Company, Maersk, CMA CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd — will halt transits through the Red Sea amid continued attacks on shipping while Hong Kong-based liner OOCL has also said that it will stop handling cargoes to and from Israel “with immediate effect.”

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

PSA- Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Int’l Road in Abu Dhabi will be shut down from today until Friday 29 December 2023,Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Center said.

HAPPENING TODAY- The International Exhibition of Transportation, Logistics, and Related Industries (Iran Trans Expo 2023) will kick off today and conclude tomorrow at the Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Campus (Mossala) in Tehran, Iran. The event is organized by Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, the Transport and Urban Development Ministry, and the Fund for Innovation and Prosperity of Unions and Associations.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK- The Saudi Airport Exhibition’s (SAE) second edition kicks off tomorrow and continues till Wednesday at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre (RICEC). The two day event brings together more than 250 exhibitors from over 50 countries to showcase innovations in airport operations, construction, technology, ground handling, support services, and air traffic control, with a focus on KSA’s drive to develop and upgrade its airport sector. The event is sponsored by the General Authority of Civil Aviation -owned Matarat Holding.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1-Nigeria-based e-commerce platform Jumia Group will close its food delivery division by the end of the year, Reuters reported last week. Africa’s first New York Stock Exchange-listed tech startup will stop food delivery operations in all seven countries where the service operates, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Ivory Coast. Jumia has been doubling down on measures to trim costs, including layoffs and existing grocery and delivery services as it redirects efforts to focus on its core online retail operations in an effort to turn profitables, the newswire said.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2-Maroc suspends flights to Paris: Moroccan national carrier RoyalAir Maroc suspends flights to and from Paris-Orly airport amid a notice for an air traffic controller’s strike notice starting today, the company said. The strike, which comes in protest to a new regulation requiring a 48-hour notice before engaging in industrial action, is also set to affect operations across airports in Lyon, Lille, Brest, Rouen, Poitiers, and Saint-Yan, Morocco World News reported.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- Lufthansa plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv early next year:Lufthansa will recommence flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport beginning 8 January, 2024, according to a statement. The resumption is set to proceed in phases with the carrier offering rolling out 20 weekly connections to start with, corresponding to c. 30% of the pre-conflict flight schedule. The German carrier had also suspended flights to Beirut, before resuming them on Friday, the statement said.

ICYMI: Major global airlines, including Air France, ANA, Delta Air Lines, Wizz Air, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Air India suspended their flights to Tel Aviv in October, with others curtailing their operations in the country.

DATA POINT #1-Suez Canal revenues saw a 25% y-o-y increase in FY 2022/2023 to USD 8.8 bn, compared to 7 bn last year, according to Egyptian Central Bank data cited by Alsharq Business on Thursday. The canal’s revenues boosted 63% over the past ten years, rising from USD 5.4 bn in FY 2013/2014 to USD 8.8 bn for the financial year that concluded on 20 November, Alsharq Business said.

DATA POINT #2-SAF volumes are growing fast, but not fast enough: Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production topped 600 mn liters (0.5Mt) in 2023, double the 300 million liters (0.25 Mt) produced last year, according to an International Air Transport Association (IATA)press release. Volumes are projected to triple again to 1.875 billion liters (1.5Mt) in 2024. Despite the solid growth, SAF as a proportion of renewable fuel production is expected to only grow from 3% in 2023 to 6% to 2024, limiting supply and hiking prices. These projections are far below the 25% to 30% SAF renewable fuel production capacity required to meet the sector’s net zero goals for 2050, IATA says.

DATA POINT #3- Air cargo traffic at Kuwait International Airport increased 15% y-o-y in November,with some 19.4 mn kg of inbound and outbound cargo handled during the year,Kuwait’s daily Al Rai cites the General Administration of Civil Aviation as saying. The period saw the airport process 15.6 mn kg of imports, and 3.8 mn kg of exports. Total aircraft movements for the period were 10.6k, 10% y-o-y increase, and passengers totalled 983k for the year, a 12% y-o-y increase, the outlet said.

MARKET WATCH #1- Egypt’s sugar export ban extended: Egypt’s trade ministry has extended for three months its ban on the export of sugar, according to a decision published in Egypt’s Official Gazette. The ban, which runs through March 2024, exempts surplus quantities beyond local market needs. The country’s trade ministry has also stepped up warnings to wholesalers and retailers against hoarding and price gouging as it looks to calm soaring prices in local markets.

MARKET WATCH #2- Global demand for oil to rise faster than expected in 2024,despite agreements in COP28 to transition to cleaner fuels, Reuters reported citing a monthly International Energy Agency (IEA) report it picked up. World consumption is poised to rise by 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, a 130k bpd upgrade from its previous forecast, with boosted projections for the US economy and lower oil prices driving the upturn, the IEA said.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Turkey this month to discuss bilateral ties, as well as proposals by the Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce for boosting bilateral trade, including through a potential trade agreement, state-aligned Tasnim News Agency quotes chairman of the chamber Mehrdad Saadat as saying. Saadat said that Iran’s trade with Europe could grow by taking advantage of Turkey’s trade capacities.

The Iran-UAE Joint Economic Cooperation Commission meeting will be held in the coming weeks in a bid to develop bilateral cooperation, deepen commercial ties, and boost trade. The location has yet to be announced.

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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