Good morning, folks. It’s a relatively calm news day as the weekend inches nearer, with big news emerging on the Qatar-Kuwait trade front, and a high profile visit aiming to shape Egypt-Turkey trade relations on the horizon…

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- El Sisi to make his first official trip to Turkey as ties with Erdogan warm: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is set to pay his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a visit on 4 September for the first time as the two countries work to strengthen ties following years of tense relations, Bloomberg reports. The visit will kick off the resumption of a high-level Strategic Cooperation Council the pair agreed to reinstate back in February, paving the way for discussions on cooperation and trade.

Mending fences: Egypt and Turkey restored diplomatic ties and reappointed ambassadors last summer after a decade of frayed relations triggered by issues including competing interests in Libya and tensions over gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. Relations progressed further when Erdogan in February visited Egypt for the first time in over a decade.

Better days ahead? The two countries are working to boost the volume of bilateral trade to USD 15 bn annually in the next five years — up from USD 6.6 bn at the end of 2023. They are also seeking to cooperate in the fields of LNG and nuclear energy, expand an existing free trade agreement, and restart freight shipping between the Turkish port of Mersin and Alexandria, Bloomberg quotes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as saying during a visit to Cairo earlier this month.

#2- Egypt eyes container manufacturing: Egypt’s Ezz Dekheila firm is conducting technical studies to set up a container manufacturing factory commissioned by Egypt’s Ministry of Transport in Alexandria Port, Al Borsa reports, citing unnamed sources. The Alexandria Port Authority is reportedly preparing an area of 273 acres as a first phase of the factory with an additional area of 600 acres planned for the second phase. No investment ticket or production capacity has been disclosed. Technical studies international standard specifications for the containers manufactured. Ezz Dekheila — a subsidiary of Ezz Steel — will be one of the private sector firms investing in the factory. 

IN OTHER EGYPT UPDATES- East Qantara Dry Port to kick off operations mid 2025: New Suez Canal for Dry Ports and Logistics Services plans to start operating the East Qantara Dry Port in Egypt by mid 2025, with 70% of the port’s superstructure having already been completed, the company’s vice chairman Mohamed El Banna told Al Mal.

Remember: The company is reportedly in talks with entities over financing the superstructure of the port. The company has reportedly already fully completed the infrastructure of the port at a cost of EGP 500 mn, and had been looking to secure an additional EGP 500 mn for further development.

#3- Chinese automakers are turning to Algeria to skirt Western tariffs: Chinese automakers, including JAC, Geely and Chery, are working on completing investment procedures to begin local production in Algeria, Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Li Jian told Algerian news outlet El Khabar in an interview earlier this week. He said the sale of the locally manufactured vehicles would not be limited to Algeria, but would also be exported to other countries.

Europe is another destination: Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng is looking to manufacture EVs in Europe to dodge import tariffs, CEO He Xiaopeng told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this week. Xpeng, along with German automaker Volkswagen, were in the initial phases of selecting a European site to localize production in the future, he added.

#4- Oilfield operations grind to a halt in Libya: The Amal, Nafoora, and El Feel oilfields in Libya have halted operations, and the Abu Attifel field has reduced production, Reuters reports, citing comments by engineers at the oilfields. Libya’s eastern government had said on Monday that all oil fields would be shut down and production and exports would be suspended. The country produced 1.18 mn barrels per day in July. Neither Libya’s internationally recognised government in Tripoli nor its National Oil Corp (NOC) have confirmed the closures.

Background: Libyan factions are engaged in a struggle to control the country’s central bank and oil revenues. Recent tensions escalated following attempts by political groups to remove Sadiq al-Kabir, the head of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), leading to mobilization by opposing armed factions. On Monday, the Tripoli-based CBL announced it had halted its operations both domestically and internationally "due to extraordinary disruptions." The central bank is the sole internationally recognized repository for Libya's oil revenues, which are crucial for the country’s economy.

#5- Vessel spotted transferring Russian LNG on the Mediterranean sea: Satellite images appear to show a sanctioned LNG tanker, the Pioneer, transferring its Russian LNG cargo to another ship some 30 km northeast of Egypt’s Port Said, Bloomberg reports. Sanctioned by the US last week, the vessel reportedly transferred its cargo to an unsanctioned recipient vessel dubbed the New Energy in a bid to circumvent the sanction order, Bloomberg reports, citing TankerTrackers. The cargo is the first shipment from Arctic LNG 2, Russia’s latest gas export facility, which was subjected to US sanctions last year and could be traveling towards Asia through the Suez Canal.

Background: The US implemented sanctions on seven Russia-linked LNG carriers, including the Pioneer and Asya Energy, last week, Bloomberg reported. The two vessels loaded the initial two shipments from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project.

RED SEA WATCH-

The Greek-flagged crude oil tanker Sounion, reported carrying 1 mn barrels of crude oil, now appears to be leaking oil sparking environmental safety concerns, Reuters reports, citing comments made by Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder. The vessel was targeted with multiple missiles by Houthis last week and has been on fire since Friday. Two tugs were reportedly dispatch to to aid in rescue and salvage operations, but the Houthis threatened to attack them, Ryder added.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices rebounded in early morning trading as investor concerns appeared to ease regarding supply chokeholds from Libya and global fuel demand, Reuters reports. Brude crude futures rose USD 0.25 to USD 79.80 a barrel by 02.09 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures inched up USD 0.17 to USD 75.70 a barrel. Oil prices fell over 2% yesterday breaking a three-day streak of gains topping 7%.

#2- Baltic index down for second day: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — fell by 2.3% to 1,721 points on Tuesday. The capesize index dropped 96 points to 2,755, while the panamax index dipped 2.3% to 1,381 points recording its 20th consecutive session of declines. The smaller vessel segment Supramax lost one point coming in at 1,317.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

UK-Egypt trade and investment in the spotlight: Our friends at HSBC, together with the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce (EBCC) and UK Export Finance (UKEF), will host a webinar this week to discuss how to support infrastructure reforms, potential partnerships in Egypt, and ways to support and connect companies around the world. The webinar takes place next Thursday (29 August) from 12-1pm CLT / 1-2pm UAE.

Want to attend? You can sign up here.

The webinar is a scene-setter for the Egypt-UK Investment and Opportunities Forum in London on Monday, 16 September.

Infrastructure is a key part of the forum. The gathering — which follows on from a Juneinfrastructure mission — will focus on promoting trade and investment in infrastructure, with an emphasis on green hydrogen and renewables as well as sectors including the auto industry, food processing, and tech.

Networking: The forum will include both open panels and pre-arranged business-to-business networking. It will also give attendees the chance to meet with government officials and industry leaders. GAFI will be on hand to deliver an economic update.

Want to join them in London? Register your interest in attending the event here.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Warehousing and Logistics Expo on Monday, 2 September to Wednesday, 4 September in Riyadh. The event will bring together leaders in the supply chain, warehousing, and logistics industry from across the Kingdom to discuss investments, trade, geopolitical risks, and localized manufacturing.

Egypt will host the Egypt International Airshow on Tuesday, 3 September to Thursday, 5 September in El Alamein. The event will host a range of discussions touching on industrialization, digitalization, and globalization in the regional commercial aviation sector. During the event, aircrafts and innovative aerospace products, and services will be showcased.

Saudi Arabia will host SkyMove MENA on Tuesday, 10 September and Wednesday, 11 Septemberin Riyadh. The event will gather global industry stakeholders, experts, and service providers to discuss challenges in the regional aviation industry.

The UAE will host the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress from Monday, 16 September to Friday, 20 September in Dubai. The Congress is expected to welcome 20k participants to explore innovations in smart mobility and transportation technology.

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Maritime and Logistics Congress on Wednesday, 18 September and Thursday, 19 September in Dammam. The event will gather international industry leaders in the maritime sector to discuss a range of topics including interconnected logistics, supply chains, digitalization, decarbonization and workforce development.

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