Good morning, wonderful people. We hope you had a lovely Eid Adha break, and that you’re ready to get back into the swing of things. We have a packed issue for you this morning, filled with updates from the region and beyond on what went on in the logistics world over the past week. But before we dive in, we have an important announcement.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- The Enterprise Finance Forum is taking place on 18-19 September at the St. Regis Hotel in Cairo. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.

Day one is our Banking Forum, where we’ll dive deep into topics of interest to commercial and investment bankers, from an outlook on the 12 months to come in M&A, IPO, and debt capital markets to the national, regional, and global trends that are (re)shaping our industry.

Day two is all about Fintech and Non-Banking Financial Services. We’ll take a deep dive into everything from the magic of client acquisition to the prospects of consolidation and the coming of challenger banks.

** NEW: MORE NETWORKING TIME- Our agenda includes expanded networking time, including an expanded coffee break and a post-event networking room for you to interact with your peers and speak one-on-one with the team at Enterprise.

TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations just after the 30 June holiday.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Please click here.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda in the weeks to come.

MISSED THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast to hear what went down: The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum,which took place last May.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- We looked at how Egyptian companies can identify and pitch foreign partners and how they can identify them. We asked how do companies figure out what they’re looking for — and whether that dovetails with what they want or need. We were joined on that panel by Hossam Abou Moussa, partner at PE firm Apis, Cheick-Oumar Sylla, director for North Africa and Horn of Africa at the International Finance Corporation, and Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean) at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Expect us to drop an episode every Sunday morning. You can listen to the Enterprise Podcast where ever you get your podcasts including: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- AD Ports Group finalized its acquisition of Spanish logistics outfit Noatum. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s energy city megaproject King Salman Energy Park and Hong Kong’s Hutchison Ports have inked a concession agreement to operate Spark’s dry port and bonded logistics zone.

HAPPENING TODAY-

PSA- Abu Dhabi can now fine heavy weight vehicles exceeding weight limits: Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) will fine all heavy freight transport vehicles exceeding weight limits of 45 tonnes traveling in either direction of Abu Dhabi’s Umm Yafina Road, according to an ITC statement. The unspecified fines will come into effect as of 3 July.

Iran to strengthen ties with China + Russia with SCO membership: Iran is expected to be fully admitted into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a full member at the SCO summit today, Russia’s state news agency Tass quotes Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. The SCO — a security and trade cooperation organization for Eurasian states, founded by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — will help Iran build on strengthening ties with China and Russia amid US sanctions that have effectively isolated it from most trade routes.

UAE grants AED 374 mn contract to improve Dubai to Sharjah travel time: The UAE’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has granted a AED 374 mn contract to improve the intersection of Garn Al Sabkha Street in Dubai and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road in Sharjah, WAM reports. The project will see the construction of four new bridges extending over 3 km and capable of handling 17.6k vehicles per hour. The project should help reduce congestion by 40%, reducing peak hour journey time from 20 minutes to just 12 minutes. It will also reduce the journey time for vehicles from Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road to Al Yalayis Road in the direction of Jebel Ali Port from 21 minutes to 7 minutes, RTA Chairman Mattar Al Tayer said.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Iran and Pakistan have agreed to hold talks for a trade agreement in September, Iranian semi-official news agency Tasnimcites Hadi Talebian, who leads South Asia Department at Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), as saying. Talebian is hoping that the two countries could come to an agreement by March 2024, Tasnim reports. The two countries are currently in a preferential trade agreement that includes tariff reductions on certain goods traded between the two countries.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2-India’s operations in Iran’s Chabahar Port have become commercially viable this year,as the two countries work towards signing a long-term contract, India Shipping News quotes Indian Ports, Shipping and Waterway Union Minister Shri Sonowal as saying. Chabahar marks India’s first overseas port project with a self-renewing 10-year long-term agreement and comes as a replacement for its operations at the Shahid Beheshti terminal in the Chabahar port. Data collected from the MoPSW recorded a 25% m-o-m increase to 3.5 k TEU in May of the cargo handled at Shahid Beheshti terminal in the Chabahar port. This increase means future investments from India in the port are likely, Sonowal said.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3-Bahrain is likely to award the contract to construct the USD 55 mn Busaiteen Link roadway project by 3Q 2023, possibly by September, Zawya cites a source as saying. Tenders for the Saudi Fund for Development-financed highway project were issued in January and bids from Al Moayyed Contracting, Haji Hassan Group, Alghanim International General Trading and Contracting, and Nass Contracting Company are currently undergoing technical evaluations. The project is expected to be completed by the close of 2025.

DATA POINT #1- Qatar saw a 0.7% y-o-y uptick in air cargo and mail in May,recording 193k tonnes, Zawya reports, quoting the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority. Aircraft movement also saw a 16.6% increase during the same period. Qatar also saw a 22% y-o-y rise in air passengers to 3.4 mn in May and a 31% m-o-m increase in April. May also saw a 14.3% m-o-m surge in aircraft movement with 18.7k flights registered.

DATA POINT #2- Mwani Qatar received 95.9k TEUs in June 2023, a 1% m-o-m increase, according to a statement. RORO volumes rose 21% during the month to reach 7.5k units, while general and bulk cargo volumes stood at 21.7k tons.

MARKET WATCH-

A sooner-than-anticipated end to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine could have significant implications for global shipping,Freight Waves reports.Last week, the European Union unveiled a new package of sanctions on Russian crude exports and containerized imports, while Ukraine made advancements on the battlefield. This could fasttrack an end to the war, which could lead to a significant decline of Russian crude exports, and have a subsequent negative impact on tanker demand and rates, according to Erik Haavaldsen, Pareto Securities’ head of research.

On the other hand, the end of the war could lead to the scrapping of older tankers and drive demand for shipping building materials and supplies for the reconstruction of Ukraine. “There would be general economic activity that would drive, with it, containerized trades — not directly — but it would drive containerized trades too,” Anastasios Aslidis, CFO of Euroseas and Eurodry said.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have announced oil cuts for August in an effort to buoy the market, Bloomberg reports. Saudi Arabia has committed to extend a voluntary 1 mn bpd output cut to August, while Russia committed to cut exports by 500k bpd, Reuters said. Brent crude rose 1.6% to USD 76.6 following the twin announcements, according to the newswire. The cuts represent the latest coordinated effort between Moscow and Riyadh to boost oil markets. Benchmark Brent crude has fallen from USD 113 a barrel last year on the back of concerns over a sluggish global economy and an excess in oil supplies.

Forecasts for global tanker freight in 2H 2023 are looking bullish despite recent OPEC+ output cuts and rate drops in the Arabian Gulf,Hellenic Shipping Newsreported, citing market analysts. This comes off the back of increased demand for Chinese oil, the war in Ukraine, and strong crude trade flows that are driving up demand in the tanker freight industry. Crude oil trade saw a 8.5% rise between January and May to reach 900 mn metric tons. Market volatility could lead to more bouts of decline and recovery in the tanker freight market, though seasonal oil demand is expected to continue to support the market, analysts say.

Global long-term shipping rates fell 9.4% in June, extending a drop this year that Xeneta officials say is “highly unusual,” according to Xeneta’s Shipping Index. This follows a 27.5% drop in May and a 10.3% fall in April, with contracted rates losing 47.2% of their value over the last three months and 51.7% throughout 2023. Xeneta’s real time data also indicated a decrease in long-term trading contract prices. “With ongoing weak demand, continuing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, and a growing excess of capacity, it’s difficult to see how the industry can turn this current trend around — at least in the short-term,” Xeneta’s CEO Patrik Berglund said.

China’s Shandong refining hub has started discharging mns of barrels of oil that were previously held at ports following restrictions on imports into the province, Reuters reports, quoting sources in the know. The loosening of restrictions on China’s key oil importing province will enable the movement of heavy crude from Venezuela and Iran, the sources added. Measures to free cargoes from storage tanks were discussed between officials during a high-level meeting held last week. Chinese customs had previously increased tanker inspections after discovering Iranian cargoes that were mislabeled as diluted bitumen to avoid oil import quotas by Beijing.

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.

That said, we’re looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

During the program you will learn:

• The key news stories and trends shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region, across various sectors;
• Business and finance for non-finance people: Whether it’s industry jargon or key concepts or simply how to read a balance sheet;
• How to construct an Enterprise story: From idea formulation down to the structure, style and tone of writing;
• How to develop sources that will give you the key insights needed to tell a complete story;
• How to communicate these stories with the confidence and language of an insider.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists, while also working on and filing stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment ProtectionCommittee session kicked off yesterday and is running till Friday at the IMO HQ in London, with in person and hybrid participation. The session’s main agenda is to adopt an upgraded IMO greenhouse gas strategy and updated greenhouse gas reduction targets for the marine sector. The session will also look at ballast water and biofouling management, marine litter, guidelines for underwater noise, and the environmental risks of ship-to-ship transfers.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) will host the IATA WorldSustainability Symposium (WSS) in Madrid, Spain on 3-4 October, according to a press release. The symposium will foster discussions regarding achieving net zero emissions in aviation by 2050, including topics such as sustainable aviation fuels, government support, financing the energy transition, the significance of value chains, and measuring emissions. The symposium will bring together sustainability experts, industry stakeholders, and government representatives.

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