Good morning, friends. It’s a brisk news day in the logistics world in what’s shaping up to be a slow week as the summer lull continues.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- There isn’t much going on, but we did take note of one big story out of Qatar: Qatar Post acquired an additional 40% stake in e-commerce platform Turkish Souq, a JV it established with Turkish postal service PTT in 2018.

HAPPENING TODAY-

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Iran’s top diplomat to visit KSA soon: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia “soon,” state news agency Mehr reports, citing statements from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has received an invitation from the Saudi king to visit the country, but no date has been set, Kanaani said The agenda will include “consultations between the two countries in the regional and international fields and the economic issues of the two countries is on the agenda of Iran and Saudi Arabia,” the foreign ministry spokesperson is quoted as saying.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- New key MENA-Far East shipping line to launch in September: Korean shipping giant HMM’S new FIM service — linking MENA ports with the Far East, India and the Mediterranean — is set to launch during the first week of September according to a statement.The novel line will have a standard container capacity of 10k, with 12 allocated container ships linking ports across South Korea, China, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Spain, within the span of 84 days.

Houthi tariff hike could strike blow to Yemeni ports : Houthi authorities’ 100% tariff on goods departing from territories controlled by Yemen’s internationally-recognized government could have negative repercussions on port operations, Asharq Al Awasat quotes sources as saying. The new tariffs — which are up from the 20% charged previously — will force traders to transfer their operations to the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida or face overwhelming losses, which would severely impede activity at the country’s other ports, Asharq Al-Awsat explained.

Background: Since 2017, the Houthis have set up seven crossings to monitor the transit of goods into territory they control, according to Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain. The crossing points were used to levy tariffs on merchandise that Yemen’s government had exempted from fees in order to curb prices, Al-Ain wrote. The Houthis say the goal of the tariff hike is to boost imports via the Houthi-controlled Hodeida port, according to the circular carried by Al Ain.

DATA POINT #1- Iran has recorded a 2.2% y-o-y increase in loading and unloading to 82 mn metric tons at its ports during its fiscal year 2022-2023, which ended on 20 March, Mehr News Agency quotes Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization CEO Ali Akbar Safaei as saying. Exports from Iran accounted for 70% of total activity at the ports, according to Safaei. Meanwhile, transit through Iran’s ports rose by 39% y-o-y, mainly on the back of a surge in shipments from Russia and Europe, Safaei added.

DATA POINT #2- Kuwait International Airport saw a 23% y-o-y increase in the number of flights in July, the director general of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Emad Al Jalawi said, according to Kuwaiti news agency KUNA. A total of 16.1 mn kg of cargo was transported by air, with 12.7 mn kg being imports.

DATA POINT #3- Alexandria Port in Egypt saw a 20% y-o-y increase in ship traffic in July, receiving some 375 ships, according to an Alexandria Port Authority statement. General cargo vessels recorded the highest growth at 54.6% y-o-y, while container ships witnessed a 17.7% rise and bulk vessels saw a 19.3% increase.

DATA POINT #4- Oman Air Cargo saw a 42% y-o-y increase in cargo volumes in 1H 2023, according to a press release. The period saw total revenues from cargo exceed OMR 22.3 mn despite a dip in yield and challenging market conditions, according to the press release, which did not clarify how that compares to its performance during the same period last year.

MARKET WATCH- Pakistan has temporarily halted Russian oil imports due to “limited gains,” making more room for imports from the Middle East, Pakistan Today reports, citing sources in the know. Pakistani refineries reportedly found that Russian crude is reaping more furnace oil than petrol, several Pakistani news outlets quote sources as telling Pakistani daily The News. The country is, however, willing to restart oil imports with Russia if cheaper rates are offered, reports say.

This is good news for Gulf exporters: Other countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait have been supplying Pakistan with crude oil and petroleum products at more attractive prices, sources said.

NON-LOGISTICS REGIONAL HEADLINES:

  • UAE: An anticipated Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between UAE and Pakistan — set to be signed in the fourth quarter of the year — is expected to boost bilateral trade by up to 20% annually. (Khaleej Times)
  • Egypt: Egyptian expats will be allowed to buy a USD-denominated pension plan in the country through Misr Life Ins. and the National Bank of Egypt, Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority chief Mohamed Farid said. (Enterprise)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR- 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.

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

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Ping a note to Moustafa Taalab, our head of commercial, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference will be taking place on 4-6 September 2023 at the Ritz Carlton in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The three-day conference will bring together more than 50 speakers to discuss sustainability, new technologies, innovation and digitalization, and capacity building in the maritime industry.

LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST-

MISSED OUR PREVIOUS FORUMS? The EnterprisePodcast has you covered : The Enterprise Podcast’s forum series has been bringing you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum and Enterprise Climate Forum.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Anghami.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- It’s the very first panel of the Enterprise Climate Forum: Egypt brought home major victories from COP27, signing framework agreements for about USD 85 bn worth of green hydrogen projects, and announcing more than USD 10 bn in funding for the Nexus for Food, Water and Energy (NWFE) program. While we have a long way to go before much of the wins from COP27 will be tangible to the private sector, the opportunities in green hydrogen and NWFE are “now.” Our panelists helped explain how these two can be made actionable. We were joined by Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, Khalid Hamza, Director and head of Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Khaled Naguib, CEO of Hydrogen Egypt.

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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