TODAY: Where did the sitting goods go?

Good morning, nice people, and a happy Eid El Adha in advance. This short workweek starts with a deep dive into warehousing — the often-overlooked pressure point when cargo flows shift and inventory gets rerouted, delayed, or redistributed. We also have AD Ports extending its footprint from UAE inland logistics networks to a major terminal project in the Republic of the Congo.

Meanwhile, geopolitics may also be tilting back toward diplomacy. A US-Iran agreement has been “largely negotiated” and is “subject to finalization,” according to US President Donald Trump. However, he ordered negotiators not to rush into an agreement with Iran, emphasizing that the US naval blockade will “remain in full force” until such a pact is reached. Media affiliated with the Iranian regime has reported that Washington is still obstructing aspects of a potential resolution.

**A QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTE: EnterpriseAM Logistics will be taking a publication holiday and will be back in your inboxes at the regular time on Monday, 1 June.

Watch this space

INVESTMENT — PIF wants to create a Saudi logistics giant: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF is weighing a move to merge its ports, rail, and shipping portfolio into a unified transport and supply-chain platform, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are in the know. The discussions remain at an early stage, and no final decision has been made on the platform’s creation or its asset scope.

What’s (already) in the bag? PIF controls and holds stakes across several key logistics operators, including the USD 8.3 bn shipping firm Bahri, Saudi Global Ports, and Saudi Railway Company.

Hormuz sharpened the case: The discussions were already underway before the Iran war, but the conflict — and the prolonged closure of Hormuz — gave them new urgency. Three months of disruption along the vital shipping lane have exposed weak points in Middle East supply chains and sharpened the focus on alternative corridors, especially Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports.

INFRASTRUCTURE — More export hedges: Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials (Bildco) is studying a logistics project in Oman centered around an integrated hub at Port of Salalah, alongside a collection and operations center in Sohar, according to a statement (pdf). The move would add storage, re-export, shipping, and logistics capacity aimed at strengthening UAE building-material trade flows to India, China, and East Africa through alternative corridors.

Part of a wider rerouting push: UAE firms are deepening export redundancy beyond Hormuz, with Adnoc accelerating plans for its West-East pipeline and Borouge and AD Ports exploring an East-Coast petrochemicals hub around Fujairah.

TRADE — Could Egypt become the regional grain middleman? Egypt’s Supply Minister Sherif Farouk was in Sochi over the weekend for the Russian Grain Forum and held talks with Dmitry Sergeyev, head of the United Grain Company and President of the Russian Union of Grain Exporters and Producers, on long-term wheat supply contracts, according to a ministry statement. The play? Pitching Egypt’s ports as a regional logistics hub to house and re-export grain across the Middle East and Africa.

Egypt is among the world’s largest wheat importers — but its geography and infrastructure can make it a central node in the global commodities trade. This vision is part of Egypt’s long-term plan to establish a regional grain hub after the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war breakout exposed the volatility of Black Sea supply lines, leading Egypt to start pitching the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) as a storage and re-export hub for Ukrainian grain bound for Africa in early 2025. Egyptian officials also met with Belarusian delegates in 2024 to anchor an Arab-African logistics center for grain import.

And it’s been busy: The diplomatic push builds on talks held earlier this year on a combined grain and energy hub, with the Transport Ministry mulling a dedicated logistics corridor linking Egyptian ports to Russia’s Black Sea. A parallel agreement with Brazil to anchor a grain logistics zone in the SCZone suggests the same playbook is being run across multiple suppliers — backed by silo capacity already doubled to 3.4 mn tons, with a 6 mn-ton target ahead.

Market watch

Oil prices fell 6% to a two-week low this morning amid hopes of a US-Iran peace agreement, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures dipped USD 5.85 to trade at USD 97.69 / bbl by 03.43 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell USD 5.75 to USD 90.85 / bbl.

The Baltic Index breaks losing streak: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 0.91% to 2,991 points on Friday.

The Drewry World Container Index rose 6% to USD 2,712 per 40-ft container last week, according to the latest index readings. The lift came as transpacific and Asia-Europe rates moved higher, with Shanghai-Rotterdam up 15%, Shanghai-Genoa up 10%, and Shanghai-New York up 2%. The surge was supported by firmer FAK (Freight All Kinds) rates, planned peak-season surcharges, blank sailings, and emergency fuel surcharges — with ongoing uncertainty from Middle East tensions still affecting normal shipping flows.

PSA

MSC rolls out a new emergency fuel surcharge: MSC will apply an emergency fuel surcharge on cargo moving from the Red Sea and East Africa to Northern Europe, the UK, Scanbaltic, the West Med, and the Adriatic from 1-15 June, citing higher marine fuel prices and tighter bunker availability. The surcharge ranges from USD 100-325 per dry TEU and USD 145-485 per reefer TEU, with the highest charges applying to East Africa–Scanbaltic shipments.

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