TODAY: UN-backed TIR now has a guarantor in Egypt

Good morning, ladies and gents. Today’s issue has a big Egyptian flavor. Our top story: TIR finally has someone to vouch for it. The UN-backed transit system has sat dormant in Egypt since 2021 for want of exactly one thing — a guarantor. Now it has one, which means sealed cargo can cross the country in a single bonded run instead of getting unpacked and repacked at every border.

Plus: Egypt is having a moment on both coasts and one gas pipeline. Fujairah wants in on Red Sea crude storage (the second Emirati suitor this year), Jordan and Egypt are now splitting an FSRU at Aqaba, and Egytrans Nosco's board is still weighing AGL's offer.

Meanwhile, it’s been a minute since we’ve had to lead with an airport getting hit. Houthi missiles targeted Abha on Monday — the first direct strike on Saudi soil since the 2022 truce — and while air defenses say they handled it, we’re watching for flight disruptions and how carriers route around it.

A tale of two coasts

Egypt’s tanks draw more Emirati interest: Fujairah is in talks with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to lease storage capacity for crude oil and petroleum products at Egypt’s Red Sea port. It’s the second such approach by an Emirati entity in recent months — AD Ports made a similar pitch for Red Sea storage back in April. The facilities targeted, lease capacity, and commercial terms were not disclosed.

Why this matters: The offer has gained strategic relevance as disruption in Hormuz pushes Gulf producers and traders to look for alternative routes and storage capacity outside the waterway. Egypt has around 29 mn barrels of spare storage across our main ports, with 19 commercial ports, 14 under development, and nearly 79 petroleum storage facilities built or upgraded in recent years. The country has put up 10 storage facilities for lease at Ain Sokhna and Ras Badran} in March as the country aims to monetize spare capacity and attract oil flows from Gulf producers.

Now both coasts: Fujairah is already on the Mediterranean side. It’s partnering with Wepco on a USD 457 mn expansion of Al Hamra Port, set to double crude storage to 5.3 mn barrels from 2.5 mn and add a 130k-ton petroleum-products complex.

Sharing is caring

A new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) has arrived at Jordan’s Aqaba port to be shared by Egypt and Jordan to help meet their gas demands through the end of the year. The Excelerate Acadia — owned by US-based Excelerate Energy — is being connected to Aqaba’s LNG facilities for commissioning tests.

How the gas will be split: Under the Egypt-Jordan arrangement at 750 mmcf/d, Egypt will be able to draw up to 450 mmcf/d through the Arab Gas Pipeline, depending on demand, while Jordan will receive around 300 mmcf/d.

A vessel reshuffle: The Excelerate Acadia replaces the previously shared Energos Force, which has moved from Aqaba to Ain Sokhna and will remain there until its charter expires at the end of August.

BACKGROUND- Excelerate signed a nine-month charter agreement with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company in May to deploy the vessel at Aqaba. The FSRU was originally built for Excelerate’s planned LNG import terminal in Iraq, but was reassigned temporarily after the Iraqi project was delayed.

IN CONTEXT- Egypt now has five FSRUs physically stationed at its ports: the soon-to-be replaced Hoegh Galleon, Energos Eskimo, Energos Power, Energos Winter, and newly arrived Energos Force — alongside the Excelerate Acadia, shared with Jordan. The country recently tendered a floating storage unit and is expected to contract another FSRU ahead of the summer demand peak.

Not yet, but not no

Egytrans Nosco isn’t ready to decide on AGL’s buyout offer just yet. The board tasked management with studying French logistics group Africa Global Logistics’ (AGL) offer to acquire up to 100% of the EGX-listed firm and will revisit the offer for a final decision once the review wraps, according to a statement (pdf). No timeline was given.

ICYMI- AGL made a non-binding indicative offer earlier this month at EGP 11.25-12.25 per share. The top-of-the-range valuation for the integrated transport and project-logistics operator is EGP 2.76 bn — an 18.4% premium to the stock’s last close before the news broke. AGL has also pledged to keep key executives on for at least four years post-acquisition.

The road to delisting: AGL’s planned mandatory tender offer (MTO) is conditional on securing at least 75%, though it says it is prepared to buy out all shareholders, with voluntary delisting being the eventual aim. The French group says it already has the liquidity in hand and could settle in USD or EUR rather than EGP — all pending approvals from both the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt.

REMEMBER- Egytrans Nosco was formed last September in the EGX’s first reverse merger, combining listed Egytrans (70.2%) and the then-unlisted Nosco (29.8%).

The nominations are thinning out

Saudi crude is struggling to make China’s August buying slate. At least two refiners have requested no term shipments next month, while others that sought cargoes have yet to receive provisional allocations, Bloomberg reports. Final volumes remain fluid as Aramco and buyers discuss ad-hoc spot sales, but the early nominations extend a sharp decline, with Saudi sales to China set at just 10-20 mn barrels over the past three months.

The pullback started earlier: Saudi allocations to China halved to around 20 mn barrels in May from 40 mn in April as China’s refiners turned to commercial inventories instead, with drawdowns estimated at up to 1 mn bbl / d through April-June.

This is no longer only a supply problem: China imported 29.3 mn tons of crude in June, down 41.3% y-o-y to its lowest level in almost a decade. Even Aramco’s decision to price its flagship Asian grade at a lower cost for the first time since 2020 hasn’t fully revived demand, with buyers saying competing prompt cargoes remain cheaper. Meanwhile, Rongsheng’s Petrochemical, which holds a long-term supply contract with Aramco, bought at least 6 mn barrels of Saudi crude on a spot basis for prompt arrival — a sign that buyers are becoming more selective about price, timing, and delivery terms.

Market watch

Oil prices increased this morning as renewed US-Iran tensions fueled supply concerns, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures increased USD 0.99 to USD 85.72 / bbl by 04.00 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained USD 0.64 to USD 79.98 / bbl.

The Baltic Index posts further gains:The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 0.7% to 2,980 points on Tuesday, buoyed by increases across all vessel segments. The capesize index jumped 1% to 4,751 points, while the panamax index increased by 0.1% to 2,251 points. The smaller supramax index edged up 0.2% to 1,710 points.

Data point

17 mn tons — that’s how much cargo the Port of Casablanca handled in 1H 2026, up 7% y-o-y. Imports accounted for 75% of the total to reach around 12.8 mn tons, while exports reached 4.3 mn tons. Container throughput rose 5% to 762.6k TEUs and ro-ro volumes jumped 35% to 93.8k units.

Destination Sahel is back for a second edition — and this year, it's not just about the beach.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are pouring bns into the North Coast, Gulf buyers keep showing up despite regional headwinds, and a new 400-km master plan could reshape the whole coastline before summer’s out.

Over this season’s series, stay tuned to see who's really buying Sahel, where the money's coming from, and what could still go wrong.

Plus, the hotels, restaurants, and openings worth checking out this summer.

Tap or click here to subscribe to the Egypt edition, coming out today in your inbox.

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