Good morning, folks. We’re hitting a mid-week slump in the news cycle, but there’s some features to delve into this morning covering the skies, seas, and beyond. Shall we?

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- The Saudi Roadway Code will be rolled out in three phases as officials look to standardize the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roads across the Kingdom, state news agency SPA reported. The breakdown:

• Awareness raising from now through year-end;
• Government entities need to adhere to the code from 1 January 2025;
• The private sector will be required to follow it by from 1 July 2025.

About the code: The code includes 25 guidelines covering road, bridge and tunnel planning, implementation, maintenance and safety. It will also have a special code on the effects of road works on the environment, with another related to requirements of self-driving vehicles.

#2- Lulu is heading to India: Emirati supermarket chain Lulu group is setting up a new logistics and food processing center in Punjab, group director Salim MA told Moneycontrol. The facility will have a capacity of 200k metric tons, with construction expected to begin “soon,” Salim said. The company already has logistics and procurement centers in 15 Indian states, from where it exports more than AED 160 mn worth of agriculture products, supplying them to some 270 of its stores across the world.

Another one in Amritsar soon? “Our group also intends to have a logistics and food processing center in Amritsar for the storage, processing, grading, and packing of various local agriculture and other produce,” Salim said, adding that the company plans to hold talks with SMEs and suppliers to work out the details.

#3- Kuwait will launch nine tenders for the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port project by 2025, Alqabas reports. The contracts will cover the manufacturing and supply of port equipment, construction works to deepen the port basin and connect the port to the Khor Abduallah canal, and other consultancy, management, and dredging contracts.

#4- Egypt mulls three new markets for wheat imports: Egypt is looking to import wheat from Mexico, Zimbabwe, and Sweden in a bid to diversify sources for the staple across different continents, an unnamed government official told Asharq Business. Egypt commenced talks with the three potential exporters in late 2023 and aim to expand their certified exporter portfolio in 2025 and 2026, the official said.

#5- China responds to G7 criticisms over its trade practices: China has called out members of the group for overstating China’s overcapacity and the impact it has on global trade as a tactic to pass protectionist measures, Bloomberg reports. “The G7 hypes up the so-called overcapacity of China and attempts to set obstacles and limitations to China’s progress,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a Beijing press briefing.

What exactly did the G7 say? Finance ministers meeting in Italy last week warned that they are upset with the role China is playing in global business — and could move to take action. The escalation comes as both the US and EU look to apply more assertive policies towards their trade with China. “We have an issue with the economic model in which China is producing more and more cheaper industrial devices because it could be a threat not only for the EU, not only for the US, but for the global world economy,” French Finance Minister Le Maire told Bloomberg news.

DISRUPTION WATCH-

Red Sea disruptions and diversions drove a 1 mn tonnes per month spike in fuel consumption in 2024, Seatrade Maritime reports, citing statements by International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Vice Chairman Adrian Tolson. These challenges have incurred gains to the bunker value chain, Tolson also said. Despite increasing demand for HSFO, it has limited prospects as a bunkering fuel going into the future as players transition to other fuels, with hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia in particular showing promise due to newbuilds, as well as incentives and regulations propping up their availability in North America, Tolson said.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states have called for an immediate end to ongoing attacks, according to a statement. The IMO passed a resolution deeming the attacks as “illegal and unjustifiable,” posing a direct threat to freedom of navigation in a critical waterway and disrupting regional and global trade.

MARKET WATCH-

Oil bumped up this morning amid expectations for a spike in demand as the US heads into summer season and anticipation in the run up to Opec+ meeting next week, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures for July gained USD 0.21 to USD 83.31 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude July futures gained USD 1.18 hitting USD 78.90 a barrel. Oil prices rose over 1% yesterday due to public holidays in both Britain and the US. "We expect oil prices to move higher in the coming days due to anticipated continued voluntary output cuts by oil producers and growing prospects for easing of US monetary policy," Rakuten Securities commodity analyst Satoru Yoshida told the newswire.

DATA POINTS-

Digital trade transactions in the UAE are projected to grow at a 12.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2023 and 2028, Wam reports, citing a joint paper by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI). 49% of UAE shoppers make regular purchases online, with 40% of UAE-based consumers also making regular use of buy now, pay later (BNPL) and FinTech, the paper added. Digital trade in MENA is projected to be valued at USD 57 bn by 2026, accounting for 8.3% of the region’s total trade, the report also said.

Trade between Jordan and the EU dipped to JOD 721 mn (USD 1 bn) in 1Q 2024, down from JOD 803 a year prior, Petra reports. Jordan’s imports from EU countries dropped 11.3% during the period to JOD 638 mn, while national exports ticked down 1.2% y-o-y to JOD 83 mn. Jordan’s trade deficit with the EU notched down to JOD 555 mn, down from JOD 635 mn, Petra said.

PSA-

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has completed improvements to roads and lighting at Qusais Industrial areas one through five, Wam reports. The project saw the construction of 32 new roads, covering 10 km, as well as the installation of 43 km of street lighting, with the improvements tripling road capacity to 1.5k vehicles per hour in both directions. The roadworks have also boosted connectivity with Amman Street, Beirut Street, Aleppo Street, and Damascus Street, WAM also said.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit from Sunday, 2 June to Tuesday, 4 June in Dubai. The event will bring together aviation industry players to showcase what can be achieved through supportive government policies and decisions. Airline leaders will make decisions during the event to formalize industry positions and set IATA’s strategic agenda.

Lebanon will host the East Med Maritime Conference on Thursday, 27 June in Beirut. The event will gather industry leaders to discuss the latest developments in shipping, maritime, and offshore industries to discuss industry innovations, alternative fuels, and decarbonizing emissions in the maritime sector and ports.

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