TODAY: Adnoc wraps sale of 4% stake of Adnoc Gas + Qatar gets new oil and gas logistics hub

Good morning, friends. We are starting the last week of the month with a relatively packed issue, with news on Adnoc’s stake sale of its gas subsidiary making the rounds. We also have a logistics hub and road development updates from UAE and Qatar. Let’s get the ball rolling.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- There’s no single story dominating the headlines, but news of South Korea mulling tariffs on Chinese steel picked up some interest on the newswires. The country has provisionally decided to impose tariffs up to 38% on Chinese imports of hot-rolled steel plates in a bid to stifle a flow of cheap steel imports that the Korean steel industry said to undercut local market prices. The move comes after authorities investigated allegations of steel products used in shipbuilding and construction being dumped by Chinese steel suppliers. No timeline for the tariffs has been disclosed, but they will be implemented once approved by South Korea’s Finance Ministry.

Following suit? US President Donald Trump ordered a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum earlier this month, with the new measures set to take effect on 4 March.

Vietnam is already there: Vietnam is set on imposing a temporary anti-dumping levy of up to 27.83% on Chinese steel products starting 7 March for 120 days, Reuters reported. Vietnam imported nearly 8.8 mn tons of steel in 2024, 72% of which came from China and had a total value of c.USD 12 bn.

The story grabbed some ink in Reuters, the Associated Press, and Bloomberg.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The AD Ports Group Capital Markets Day kicks off today in Abu Dhabi. The event will gather investors, analysts, corporate and investment bankers and other securities market professionals to evaluate AD Port’s financial performance and strategy going forward.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Suez Canal back in action? Nearly 47 ships bound for the Cape of Good Hope have rerouted their journey to cross the Suez Canal in February, Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) boss Osama Rabie said in a statement. SCA expected shipping traffic to gradually return to normal rates starting late March 2025, with projections for a full recovery by mid-year, assuming the Gaza ceasefire holds.

A second wind for Suez: A Liberian-flagged LNG vessel was the second of its kind to cross the waterway earlier this month, days after the year’s first crude oil tanker — the Chrysalis — made the journey.

#2- Oman’s Sohar Port and Freezone has begun dredging operations for the Marsa LNG project, ONA reported on Saturday. The dredging operations will see the removal of nearly 4 mn cubic meters of materials to establish a dedicated approach channel and berth pocket for the LNG plant. Dredging works are slated to wrap by September 2025, with LNG production at the plant set to kick off in 1Q 2028.

Background: Marsa LNG — a TotalEnergies and OQ JV — inked a sub-usufruct agreement with Oman’s Sohar Port and Freezone for an LNG liquefaction plant at Sohar port in April 2024. The 44.5-hectare LNG liquefaction plant has a total investment ticket of USD 1.6 bn and will be powered by a 300 MWp solar plant. LNG production at the plant is intended to meet bunkering demand, with 80% of any remaining unsold LNG quantities taken by TotalEnergies and the remaining 20% taken by OQ.

#3- Iraq is under US pressure to resume Kurdish oil exports as US President Donald Trump reportedly floated the possibility of sanctions if delayed, eight unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Saturday. An advisor to Iraq’s prime minister denied any threats of sanctions from the Trump administration.

REMEMBER- Iraq has been tidying up loose ends with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to resume the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline following a two-year shutdown that cost Iraq nearly USD 19 bn in lost revenues. Last week, Kurdish region President Nechirvan Bazarni said that oil exports could resume in March 2025. The amount of oil allocated for domestic consumption in Kurdistan was among the last loose ends requiring further negotiations between the region and Baghdad.

The latest from Iraq’s government: Iraq’s Oil Ministry said it is in the process of finalizing the procedures required to resume crude oil exports from the Kurdistan region to continue through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline via Cehyan Oil Terminal, according to a statement published on Saturday.

IN OTHER IRAQI NEWS- Iraq is finalizing its Iran railway connection plans: Iraq’s Transport Ministry has sent a delegation to Basra province in the country’s south to meet with local government officials and finalize arrangements for the new 36 km double-track railway linking Iraq to Iran via the Shalamcheh border crossing, Shafaq News reported on Saturday, citing the Director General of Railways Directorate Jabbar Al-Jubouri. An unnamed Spanish company has been contracted to build the line, the newswire reported. No details on the timeline have been disclosed.

REFRESHER: Plans for the Shalamcheh-Basra Railway — reported on back in 2023 — indicated that the project would be operational by 2025. The railway will connect Iran’s Shalamcheh town to Iraq’s city of Basra, and aims at linking Iran with Jordan, Syria, and other neighboring countries.

ALSO- Iraq makes headway on Grand Faw Port: Iraq has completed 86% of the container yard project — one of five infrastructure projects at the Grand Faw Port, director of General Company for Ports of Iraq Farhan Al-Fartousi said in a statement released on Thursday. The 2k sqm yard has a water depth of seven meters and boasts a 3.5 mn TEU handling annual capacity. The first phase of the port is slated to be completed in 2025.

Background: Construction of five berths has already been completed by South Korean contractor Daewoo Engineering and Construction as of last November. Iraq shortlisted 11 shipping companies for the port operations contract back in November, with a final decision said then to be announced in January 2025, but no official announcement has been made yet.

#4- AD Ports will not be operating Turkey’s Alsancak Port after talks fell through for undisclosed reasons, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Bloomberg on Thursday. Turkey was looking to secure a partner for its Western port who can invest capital to expand it, yet after “long negotiations with an investor from the Gulf,” no agreement was reached, adding that there are no ongoing discussions with any other investors at present.

Background: We first heard rumblings about AD Port’s interest in acquiring the port back in2023, when Turkey announced plans to sell the operating rights for Alsancak Port and that it was in talks with GCC countries.

About Alsancak Port: The port is owned by Turkish sovereign wealth TWF and is operated by TC State Railways General Directorate (TCDD). Located in the Aegean city of Izmir, the 635k sqm port can handle up to 1.2 mn TEU containers of cargo and 1.4 mn tons of general and bulk dry cargo annually.

#5- UAE’s GulfNav draws closer to acquiring Brooge’s assets: Shareholders of DFM-listed Gulf Navigation (GulfNav) are scheduled to vote on the shipping company’s proposed acquisition of all of Brooge Energy’s subsidiaries and assets on Thursday, 13 March, it said in a disclosure (pdf) made last week to the exchange. The move will see the shipping and maritime services firm GulfNav fully take over Brooge Renewable Energy, Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Company, and Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Company Phase 3.

The acquisition is mostly a share swap agreement: GulfNav plans to issue 358.8 mn new shares to Brooge Energy with a one-year lock-up period, alongside AED 2.3 bn in mandatory convertible bonds set to be converted into shares. Additionally, a separate AED 500 mn convertible bond issuance will be allocated to existing shareholders, with the rump offering, if any, set to be limited to major shareholders. The company will also pay AED 460 mn in cash to settle the transaction.

REMEMBER-GulfNav submitted a proposal earlier last year for the structure of the acquisition of oil storage outfit Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Company to the Securities and Commodities Authority after submitting a proposal to fully acquire the company from Brooge Energy back in October 2023. The acquisition was initially expected to close in 4Q 2023.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Crude prices have dropped over the last few days as the market braces for a possible hike in supplies with the predicted resumption of Kurdish oil exports from Iraq soon, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures declined this morning by USD 0.14 to USD 74.29 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped by USD 0.22 to USD 70.18 a barrel by 04.41 GMT.

#2- Baltic index maintains upwards trajectory: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 40points to 981 on Friday. The capesize surged by 74 points to 991, while the panamax index increased 26 points to 1,170. The smaller supramax index gained 20 points to 886.

#3- The Drewry World Container Index decreased 10% to USD 2,795 per 40-ft container on Thursday, according to the latest index readings. Spot rates for 40-ft containers are now 73% below the previous pandemic peak but remain 97% above the pre-pandemic rate of USD 1.4k. The average composite index YTD is USD 3,465 per 40ft container, which is USD 583 higher than the 10-year average rate of USD 2,881.

#4- Russia will extend its moratorium on gasoline exports by non-producing companies from 1 March to 31 August of this year, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a government statement. Moscow aims to stabilize the gasoline market amid heightened demand, forbidding traders and resellers from selling gasoline abroad.

DATA POINT-

#1- Saudi airports recorded a 34% y-o-y boost in air cargo to 1.2 mn tons in 2024, with 1.17 mn tons handled by KSA’s three largest airports, according to the General Authority of Commercial Aviation’s (Gaca) air traffic report (pdf). King Khalid International Airport handled 573k tons, King Abdulaziz International Airport recorded 461k tons, while King Fahd International Airport handled 140k tons. Air traffic across Saudi airports increased 15% y-o-y to 128 mn passengers in 2024, while flight numbers climbed 11% y-o-y to 905k during the same period. Airports also saw a 16% y-o-y bump in air connectivity to 170 global destinations.

#2- Saudi Arabia’s crude exports fell 9.2% y-o-y in 2024, hitting a 14-year low of 6.1 mn bbl / d, according to figures from the Middle East Economic Survey (Mees). Crude output also fell 6.8% y-o-y to 9 mn bbl / d.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

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.

The UAE will host the WCA Worldwide Conference from Tuesday, 25 February to Saturday 1 March, in Dubai. The conference will include delegates from over 180 countries for logistics social networking events, one-on-one meetings and sponsorships.

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