Good morning, folks. We’re inching close to the weekend with another packed issue, led by the spate of jet orders and aviation collab agreements trickling in from the Dubai Airshow. PLUS: More big updates for UAE air and sea ports. But first, let’s take a look at the world’s latest internet outage, courtesy of Cloudflare…

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Cloudflare restored its services on Tuesday after a major outage crashed its network, blocking access to major parts of the internet. The outage came after an oversized automated security configuration file crashed parts of its network, disrupting access to major platforms, including X and chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.

The outage highlights the web’s vulnerability to “single points of failure,” as the internet largely depends on a few providers to host and manage websites’ traffic. Cloudflare alone, as a cybersecurity and internet infrastructure provider, provides one service or another to around a fifth of the world’s websites.

REMEMBER- This year saw a handful of high-profile disruptions, in which outages in major internet infrastructure providers Microsoft’s Azure cloud services, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud, took parts of the internet offline on separate occasions.

The story received a lot of int’l ink: Reuters | Associated Press | Bloomberg | Financial Times | Semafor | CNBC

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Dubai Airshow is on its third day and will run through until Friday, 21 November at Dubai World Central. Focusing on a diverse range of subjects — including aerospace technology advancements, sustainable aviation solutions, and cybersecurity — the conference will host some 135k attendees and around 1.4k exhibitors. There will be 192 aircraft on display with USD 101.5 bn orders already booked, according to the event brochure (pdf).

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Morocco’s Dakhla Port is halfway there: Construction of Morocco’s USD1 bn Dakhla Port on the Atlantic Ocean is nearly 50% complete and is scheduled to wrap up by the end of 2028, Sabah Aghadir reported last week, citing Minister of Equipment and Water Nizar Baraka.

REFRESHER- Morocco’s Dakhla Port — previously said to kick off operations in 2030 — aims to serve as a gateway to the Atlantic for African Sahel countries. The port has 800k hectares of land allocated to sustainable energy projects, intending to capitalize on exports to Europe. Officials from Morocco, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger met in 2023 to discuss the initiative for countries in the Sahel region.

#2- Temporary ice on the US-Sino trade war could potentially slash logistics costs — following the one-year truce between the two major economies, DP World’s managing director for sub-Saharan Africa Mohammed Akoojee told Bloomberg. “It will definitely be positive for the cost of logistics… up until now, the trade war has increased the cost of logistics in terms of freight rates and duties,” Akoojee added.

Trade tensions served some, however: The year-long trade tensions and sweeping tariffs have created windows for new regions like the African continent — as duties that limit shipments from China open a market window for alternative transit points and building a larger manufacturing base, Akoojee said.

Lobbying for West Africa: The port operator is now funneling new investments toward West Africa — specifically Nigeria and Senegal. It is investing USD 1.2 bn in a new port in Senegal, as well as a large distribution business in Nigeria. DP World is also linking its African expansion plans to supporting the flow of critical minerals from nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a booming market that the logistics provider is focusing on along with multinational firms to secure access to supplies, Akoojee added.

#3- South Korea signs onto UAE’s Stargate AI megaproject: Seoul will partner with the UAE on its US-backed Stargate UAE initiative to build one of the world’s largest AI data campuses, Reuters reports, citing a government announcement from South Korea made during President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Abu Dhabi.

The two countries also inked a framework agreement to increase bilateral AI investment, including in infrastructure, supply chains, and R&D. They will also explore projects ranging from co-operating hyperscale AI data centers to global AI smart port projects.

REFRESHER- Stargate UAE, announced during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the UAE in May, is set to be the first deployment of the US’ wider USD 500 bn Stargate infrastructure program and will form part of a 5 GW US-UAE AI data center cluster. US players OpenAI, Nvidia, Cisco, Oracle, and Japan’s SoftBank are partnering on the project, which is set to open in 2026.

PSA-

#3- Dubai Ports rolls out AI system for instant approvals: The Dubai Ports Authority introduced an AI- and RPA-powered system that automatically issues operational approvals and safe-work permits for activities such as accepting dangerous goods, vessel bunkering, ship-waste discharge, and port-facility work, according to a press release. The platform will instantly process eligible requests — estimated at around 44k transactions a year — while routing exceptional cases to human review to maintain compliance.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices fell this morning amid oversupply concerns after reports of piled-up inventory in the US, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures fell USD 0.11 to trade at USD 64.78 / bbl as of 05:10 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped by USD 0.09 to USD 60.65 / bbl. The drop came after Tuesday’s gains that saw Brent rise 1.1% and WTI go up by 1.4%.

ON A REGIONAL NOTE- Adnoc signs new crude and trading agreements in China: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) signed three agreements at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, including an MoU between Adnoc Global Trading and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) to explore a trading partnership across both companies’ refining and trading systems, Wam reports.

Meanwhile, Chinese state-owned refiner Yanchang Petroleum secured 2 mn bbl of Abu Dhabi Murban from Swiss trader Mercuria, as it shifts away from Russian oil imports amid looming sanctions, Reuters reports, citing trade sources.

ICYMI- China and India have been absorbing surplus from the region as the world’s biggest importers shift away from Russian grades. Chinese refiners are taking several cargoes, while Indian processors marginally increased purchases through a series of tenders.

#2- Baltic index on an upwards streak: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 2.9% to 2,216 on Tuesday, driven by the bigger size segment. The capesize gained 5.7% to 3,516, while the panamax index fell by 0.3% to 1,882. The smaller supramax index climbed 0.3% to 1,427.

#3- Atlantic LNG freight rates hit two-year high: Rising LNG exports from North America have driven up demand for tankers, pushing Atlantic freight rates for the super chilled fuel to a two-year peak, Bloomberg reports. The daily spot rate for chartering an LNG vessel for US-Europe delivery soared 19% on Monday, reaching nearly USD 98.3k — its highest level since January 2024, the outlet reported, citing data from Spark Commodities.

DATA POINTS-

The region’s aircraft fleet is expected to more than double by 2044, with more than 3k deliveries expected by then, according to Boeing’s 2025 Commercial Market Outlook (pdf). The aircraft manufacturer forecasts that the region’s airlines will need nearly 1.4k widebody passenger jets and another 1.4k narrow-body aircraft. Regional carriers are also set to bolster their freight capacity — with 185 freighter deliveries expected by 2044.

That’s not all: Regional carriers are also set to bolster their freight capacity — with 285 new and converted freighters expected to be added by 2044.

Behind the numbers: Middle Eastern airlines will see their share of global passenger traffic increase by more than 10% over the next 20 years — driven by accelerated tourism and trade entering the region. This is attributed to the region acting as a hub, well-located within an eight-hour flight range from 80% of the world’s total population.

AND- Airbus is forecasting even a bigger demand for the region: The MENA region aviation market will need 4k new aircraft over the next 20 years to meet strong regional demand, Airbus Executive VP Wouter Van Wersch told Asharq Business on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow. Widebody jets are set to account for 42% of that total.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Egypt will host the International Procurement Supply Chain Conference on Saturday, 6 December in Cairo. The event will gather over 1k delegates, more than 400 organizations, and over 30 global speakers to discuss the future of trade through keynotes and panel discussions. The discussions will center on Egypt’s transformation in the logistics sector, the future of smart ports and supply chains, as well as digital ecosystems.

Morocco is hosting the Rail Industry Summit on Tuesday, 9 December until Wednesday, 10 December in El Jadida. The two-day event will gather 130 exhibitors, 250 companies, and over 900 participants from 15 countries. It will feature business meetings, high-level conferences, and workshops focused on new market trends and future strategies.

Saudi Arabia is hosting the Saudi Airport Exhibition on Tuesday, 16 December until Wednesday, 17 December in Riyadh. Upwards of 10k global attendees are expected to participate in the event from over 100 countries. The two-day event will focus on airport-related innovation, and will feature participation from Saudia, SolitAir, and Amadeus.

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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