Good morning, friends. It’s another busy day in logistics, led by a spate of M&A updates from the aviation industry in our region and across the world. We also have the latest on Saudi logistics center projects as Mawani works to ramp up capacity across ports. Let’s dive right in.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Boeing wraps Spirit AeroSystems acquisition: Boeing has closed its USD 4.7 bn acquisition of the world’s largest aerostructures manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems, according to a press release. The planemaker is taking over Spirit’s Boeing-related commercial production operations, including fuselages for the 737 model and other major structures for the 767, 777, and 787 Dreamliners.

What is Boeing gaining? The transaction will integrate Boeing’s largest spare parts supplier into its operation, expanding its global maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services footprint, while adding Spirit’s rotable, lease, and exchange portfolio. Meanwhile, the US-based jet-maker will also take up portions of Spirit’s operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with the site operating as an independent subsidiary branded as Short Brothers.

REMEMBER- Airbus also snapped up a slice of the Spirit cake: Rival Airbus acquired parts of Spirit and integrated them into its supply chain earlier this year, taking over operations of assets in Morocco, the US, France, and the UK.

Background: Boeing began planning to acquire the company as early as February 2024, before clinching approval from Spirit’s shareholders earlier this year. Spirit received up to USD 350 mn from Boeing and up to USD 107 mn from Airbus in advance payments back in 2024 to help it stay afloat as it continued to burn through funds after four consecutive years of losses.

The story received a lot of ink from int’l media: Reuters | Associated Press | The Financial Times | Bloomberg | New York Times | Washington Post | BBC

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Rail Industry Summit will kick off today and run until Wednesday, 10 December in El Jadida, Morocco. The two-day event will bring together 130 exhibitors, 250 companies, and more than 900 participants from 15 countries, and will host business meetings, high-level panels, and hands-on workshops focused on new market trends and future rail strategies.

Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding (CGS) will begin trading on Tadawul’s main market today, according to a Tadawul statement. The listing’s institutional tranche saw stellar demand, closing over 60x oversubscribed, while the retail portion was undersubscribed. The offer price — at SAR 10 per apiece — values the company at around SAR 1 bn at listing and will see selling shareholders raise roughly SAR 300 mn in gross proceeds.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- We might see a final agreement for Mubarak Al Kabeer Port project soon: Kuwait’s Central Agency for Public Tenders has given the final green light for the direct award contract — set to be awarded to China State Construction Engineering Corporation, Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Rai reports. The contract — which reportedly stands at around KWD 1.2 bn — is expected to be signed this month and is set to advance the project closer to realization more than two years after China signed an MoU to explore the development of the project.

Background:While preliminary construction works on the project have already started, a final design and a definitive selection of the developer are still pending. The state-owned Chinese company signed an agreement earlier this year for the project’s study, design, and pre-implementation stages. The port is planned to ultimately feature 24 berths, with the goal of reaching a handling capacity of up to 8.1 mn containers a year. An adjacent industrial zone is also planned as part of the project.

#2- The Egypt-Israel USD 35 bn gas export agreement will remain in limbo for another month after the Leviathan partners pushed their deadline to obtain an export permit from Israel’s Energy Ministry to 31 December, according to a press release from partner NewMed Energy (pdf). The permit is required for the USD 35 bn gas export agreement between Egypt and Israel to take effect.

The future of the agreement has been uncertain for a while now, with Israel hitting pause on it in November “until its interests are secured and a fair price for the Israeli [gas] market is agreed upon.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also reportedly froze the agreement in September amid rising Israeli-Egyptian tensions.

Some say the permit will likely come through but possibly at lower volumes, while others argue Israel is using the delay to secure a higher export price, industry publication Middle East Economic Survey (Mees) reported, citing people it said are familiar with the talks. The proposed volumes would likely be priced broadly in line with current export rates — around USD 5.5-6 per mn Btu at today’s Brent levels. In the interim, the partners could opt for smaller initial volumes now and push to renegotiate higher-priced volumes later, Mees said.

Some also question whether increasing imports from Leviathan beyond current levels is a good idea, with one industry source warning that concentrating too heavily on a single supplier comes with risks, pointing to Europe’s experience with Russian gas, Mees added.

MARKET WATCH-

#1– Oil prices fell this morning as markets await updates on the expected US interest rate cut and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Reuters reported. Brent crude futures dropped by USD 0.08 to trade at USD 62.41 / bbl as of 04:09 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down USD 0.13 to USD 58.75 / bbl.

The drop came on top of a dip of more than 2% from previous trading sessions in the wake of Iraq’s announcement that operations resumed in Qurna 2 oilfield, which is operated by the sanctioned Russian firm Lukoil.

#2- Baltic index takes a dip: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — decreased 1.2% to 2,694 points due to downward pressure across all segments. The capesize dropped 1.4% to 5,013, while the panamax index shed 1.3% to 1,813 points, and the smaller supramax index fell by 6 points to 1,430.

#3- Ukraine’s Black Sea strikes have spiked a surge in ship ins. prices by 200% to 250%, the head of Marine and Cargo at ins. firm Marsh Marcus Baker told The Financial Times. Several brokers indicated that cover for ships trading in the Black Sea has leapt from about 0.25% to 0.3% of a vessel’s value in early November, before surging further up to 0.75% this week.

What set it off? Kyiv stepped up its attacks on Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers –– including via drone strikes which hit sanctioned tankers Kairos and Virat off Turkey’s Black Sea coast. So far, the surge in war risk ins. is mainly affecting Russian-linked tankers and bulkers used in sanctioned trade.

Is this the endgame? Not likely. “Russia will escalate things into Ukraine, so we will probably see further increases in rates in the region,” Baker said. Owners are already pausing Moscow-related voyages and are re-pricing exposure, as concerns grow that vessels involved in legitimate trade are now becoming part of the playbook after a strike hit a Turkish ship en route to Russia off Senegal’s coasts.

DATA POINTS-

Suez Canal revenues saw partial recovery between July and early December, coming in at USD 1.97 bn, up 17.5% y-o-y, Suez Canal Authority head Osama Rabie said during a meeting with the IMF mission currently in town for the latest reviews of our USD 8 bn loan program. The number of vessels passing by was up 5.2% y-o-y to come in at 5.9k.

Looking ahead: Rabie expects canal revenues to hit USD 8 bn in the fiscal year 2026-2027 and USD 10 bn in fiscal year 2027-2028 as traffic continues to recover with renewed stability in the Red Sea.

REMEMBER- Suez Canal transit is projected to pick up in early 2026 — driven by the easing of regional tensions and a positive regional growth forecast from the IMF, Secretary General of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce’s International Transport and Logistics Division Amr Al Samdoni told EnterpriseAM in October. Shipping lines have been encouraged by the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement and are “developing quarterly plans” on the premise that the war and Houthi attacks cease completely, he added.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia is hosting the Saudi Airport Exhibition on Tuesday, 16 December until Wednesday, 17 December in Riyadh. Upward 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.

Saudi Arabia is hosting SkyMove Air Cargo MENA on Tuesday, 27 January until Wednesday, 28 January in Riyadh. The event is expected to welcome more than 600 attendees from over 60 countries. The event will unite the whole air cargo value chain, analyze market trends, mitigate potential challenges, and leverage emerging windows.

The UAE is hosting the Middle East ProcureTech Summit on Tuesday, 27 January until Wednesday, 28 January in Dubai. The two-day event will spotlight the shifts in the procurement sector, paying special attention to digital and cloud procurement, and provide a networking platform for executives and industry innovators.

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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