Good morning, friends. We are heading into the weekend with our busiest news day this week, with updates from throughout the region, including a Saudi takeover bid in Africa, Adnoc’s new LNG supply agreement, a pipeline project in North Africa, a multi-purpose facility in Kezad, and a flurry of MRO agreements. Let’s dive right in.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Regionally backed London Heathrow Airport is planning a third runway: The UK’s Heathrow Airport plans to finalize proposals for a third runway project this summer, CEO Thomas Woldbye told Reuters. The expansion — targeting an operational start in 2035 — will be funded by private investors and its investment ticket is set to be “significantly” higher than the GDP 14 proposed back in 2014, Woldbye said.

The pitch: The expansion aims to boost the airport’s capacity, which currently operates at 99%, ease fears of takeovers by European rivals, and benefit the wider economy through the use of domestically produced steel and local manufacturers where possible, which should win over public support for the project.

Regional backers: The airport is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Qatar Investment Authority, with each owning 15% and 20% stakes, respectively. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala was also reportedly considering a stake in the airport back in February 2024.

ICYMI: London Heathrow announced in December plans to invest GDP 2.3 bn into upgrading its airport facilities over the next two years. The figure is significantly higher than previous investment forecasts, which were previously set at GDP 244 mn.

#2- UAE’s NMDC plans to publicly list its technical and logistics services unit — NMDC LTS — once it has matured as part of its broader growth strategy, CEO Yasser Zaghloul told Sky News Arabia Business in an interview (watch, runtime: 05:09). The move follows the successful IPO of its subsidiary NMDC Energy last September, which raised AED 3.2 bn.

REMEMBER- NMDC launched NMDC LTS to focus on marine logistics and technical operations in December 2024, with the logistics arm acquiring 70% of UAE’s oil and gas services provider Emdad in the same month.

#3- Turkey scraps Syria trade restrictions: Turkey has lifted restrictions on imports, exports, and transit shipments with Syria via the Turkish Customs Zone in a bid to boost bilateral trade, according to a ministry statement. Customs transit procedures for products leaving Syria for third countries via Turkey have also been eased, with the exception of scrap metal, for which the old restrictions remain in place. Prior to this ruling, certain imported goods from Syria were subject to permission-based entry procedures.

Turkey may go all in on Syria: Turkish operator of floating power plants Karpowership confirmed back in December that it was being considered for providing electricity to Syria. The country also announced it had developed an action plan to repair and rebuild Syria’s airports, bridges, roads, and railways after assessing the situation on hand.

ICYMI- The Syrian-Jordanian Freezone resumed operations last month after officials extended customs crossing hours and reactivated their bilateral freetrade agreement. Jordan also resumed agriculture trade with Syria last month following a 13-year hiatus due to civil unrest. The Saudi-based Al Jouf Cement Company inked a SAR 38 mn (c. USD 10.1 mn) contract last month to export cement and clinker goods to Syria.

#4- Saudi Masarat Mobility Park kicks off development for automotive hub: Masarat Mobility Park — a Tasaru Mobility Investments, Zamil Group Real Estate, Abdullah Ibrahim Alkhorayef Sons, and Dar Al Himmah Projects JV — has kicked off the first phase of developments at a 2 mn sqm automotive and mobility hub in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), according to a press release.

Some details: The facility — which has received eligibility certification to operate within KAEC — will focus on trading, logistics solutions, and manufacturing and will feature multimodal connectivity to sea, air, and road transport, as well as a future rail network. The project is expected to create jobs in automotive technology, logistics, and manufacturing. The park has secured “initial commitments” from unnamed global automotive players looking to move in.

#5- Egypt’s Sokhna Industrial Zone is set to welcome two new factories worth USD 3 mn this year — two textile manufacturing and printing factories in the plug-and-play factory area, according to a statement from the SCZone. The first factory will manufacture prayer mats, velvet fabrics, and woven fabrics with investments of USD 2 mn and an export target worth USD 6 mn in 2025. The second, USD 1 mn factory will also produce fabrics, with the facility targeting USD 4 mn worth in exports this year.

#6- Iran needs USD 3-4 bn over the next 10 years to expand and modernize its maritime fleet, head of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) Mohammad Esmaeili told Tehran Times. While no capital has currently been allocated by Iran’s government for the maritime sector, IDRO is negotiating with an unnamed local firm to start producing specialized marine-grade steel required for shipbuilding — partly to boost Iran’s capacity for cargo transportation.

US sanctions lend urgency to the investments: Iranian and Russian oil has been stuck on ships after the US imposed sanctions on vessels and entities dealing with the two countries. This has reduced the number of buyers and left fewer vessels available to deliver cargo, Reuters reports, citing unnamed trade sources and analysts.

ICYMI:The US is putting “maximum pressure” on Iran, aiming to cut its oil exports to zero in a bid to curtail its alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The US Treasury recently announced sanctions targeting several individuals and tankers for alleged participation in “facilitating the shipment of mns of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of mns of USD.”

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Crude prices fell on Thursday morning on the back of news of a possible peace agreement ending the war in Ukraine, as well as reports of rising US crude stockpiles, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures went down by USD 0.68 to USD 74.50 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also dropped by USD 0.65 to USD 70.72 a barrel by 05.15 GMT.

ALSO- Opec is sticking with its forecast that global oil demand will remain strong in 2025 and 2026, maintaining its projections from last month that global oil demand will increase by 1.45 mn bpd in 2025 and 1.43 mn bpd in 2026, Reuters reports. The positive outlook comes on the back of demand for air and road travel, while the group does not expect potential trade tariffs to impact economic growth.

#2- Baltic continues to dip: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — declined 25 points to 776 on Wednesday. The capesize fell by 68 points to 711, while the panamax index shed 28 points to 983. The smaller supramax index rose by 14 points to 724.

#3- India’s natural gas consumption will climb 60% to 103 bn cbm per year by 2030, according to a report (pdf). The forecast comes on the back of rising industrial demand and improved domestic gas production. The nation’s domestic production met half of India’s demand in 2023 and is expected to rise by 8% to nearly 38 bn cbm per year by the end of the decade.

The UAE is set to benefit from this surging demand: The UAE, which has been investing in new liquefaction projects and energy infrastructure, is well-positioned to gain from India’s soaring demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the world’s fourth-largest LNG buyer is set to more than double its imports to 64 bn cubic meters (bcm) annually by 2030, up from 36 bcm in 2023, Bloomberg reports, citing an International Energy Agency report (pdf).

It’s happening already: Two of India’s largest state-owned oil companies, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, will sign major LNG purchase agreements with Adnoc this week, Bloomberg reports separately. Indian Oil will buy up to 1.2 mn tons of LNG annually in a 14-year agreement worth over USD 7 bn starting in 2026. The two companies had inked the LNG supply agreement back in 2023. Meanwhile, Bharat Petroleum will receive 2.5 mn tons over five years starting April, with an option to extend for another five years.

For Adnoc, these agreements secure long-term buyers for its LNG exports, following similar agreements with companies in Germany and Malaysia. The UAE is competing with Qatar to attract buyers by offering lower prices and more flexible terms, according to traders who spoke to Bloomberg.

DATA POINT-

#1- Orders handled by delivery apps in the Kingdom reached 290 mn in 2024, the Transport General Authority said in a post on X . Riyadh Province accounted for 45.3% of the 290 mn orders in 2024 at 130.5 mn orders, followed by Makkah Province at 65.4 mn (22.7%) and the Eastern Province at 43.2 mn (15%), according to

PSA-

Rate increase on cargo from Middle East to North America: Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has announced a new USD 1k per container general rate increase (GRI) for cargo transported from the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East to North America, effective 15 March, according to a statement. The GRI will impact 20 and 40 dry, reefer, and special containers, including high cube equipment. The rate increase will apply for US- and Canada-bound shipments from the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Kenya will host Air Cargo Africa from Wednesday, 19 February to Friday, 21 February in Nairobi. The trade fair, focused on aviation in the logistics sector, offers an inclusive platform to showcase multimodal transport solutions across the continent. The event , slated to gather over 2k visitors from over 50 countries, will host over 60 exhibitors and brands who will exhibit the latest developments in airfreight.

The UAE will host Dubai Freight Camp from Thursday, 20 February to Saturday, 22 February in Dubai. The event looks to connect new partners and businesses in the freight forwarding industry. Global members from freight networks Pangea and Connecta are invited to partake in the conference.

The UAE is holding AD Ports Group Capital Markets Day on Monday, 24 February in Abu Dhabi. The full-day, in-person event will see investors, analysts, corporate and investment bankers and other securities market professionals gather to evaluate AD Port’s financial performance and the group’s strategy going forward. Group and cluster senior management, as well as other guest speakers, will visit flagship assets in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE will host the WCA Worldwide Conference from Tuesday, 25 February to Saturday, 1 March in Dubai. The event — set to bring together over 4.5k freight forwarders from 179 countries — will host several workshops and courses over one week.

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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