Good morning, folks. It’s a busy morning in the regional logistics sector with a basket of updates from the UAE, Saudi, and beyond. Let’s dive right in.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- Stay tuned for updates: Ministers from Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE are gathering in Turkey today at the Development Road Summit to discuss the USD 20 bn project aimed at connecting the Iraqi port of Basra to the Persian Gulf to Turkey, Al Monitor reported earlier this week. The quadripartite summit will discuss the details of the project.

REMEMBER- The UAE, Iraq, Turkey, and Qatar signed a preliminary agreement back in April to work together on the Development Road project in Iraq, which aims to connect a significant commodities port on Iraq’s southern coast — the Grand Faw Port — to Turkey’s border via rail and road networks. The project’s railway track is almost 80% complete, while the expressway is 75% complete. The Iraqi Transport Ministry inked an agreement in July with consulting firm Oliver Wyman to help market the project, supervise investments, and provide economic advisory services for strategic government projects.

#2- 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 today 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 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.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Saudia lines up five-year expansion plans: The Kingdom’s flagship carrier Saudia is set to receive 191 new aircraft by 2032, adding to its current fleet of 188 aircraft, Director General Ibrahim Al Omar said on the Socrates podcast (listen, runtime: 2:14:28). New aircraft deliveries are set to kick off late next year and will include some 100 electric aircraft, Al Omar said. Saudia is also set to double the number of its destinations to 140 in the next five years in a bid to meet rising demand and to cater to upcoming mega events including Expo 2030 and the FIFA World Cup 2034, with the carrier angling for a position among the world’s top five airlines by 2027.

How will Saudia finance the upgrades? The carrier plans on lining up loans, as well as tapping its own resources from leasing and reselling aircraft to fund its fleet expansion, Al Omar said, adding that some 40% of Saudia’s fleet is currently leased out.

#2- Israel’s gas imports to Egypt are said to have grown by 18% m-o-m in August, reaching some 1 bn cubic ft per day, Asharq Business reports, citing two Egyptian government officials it says have knowledge of the matter. A decrease in demand in Israel has reportedly sparked the growth in shipments, one of Asharq’s sources says. Israel’s Leviathan offshore gas project produces some 12 bn bcm of gas annually and sells to Jordan and Egypt.

Remember- Egypt plans to import up to 17 shipments of LNG in 4Q 2024 to ensure the lights stay on after an extended period of power cuts. The government announced that it had secured five LNG shipments for the months of August and September.

#3- A mystery Chinese luxury car manufacturer is exploring the region: The Egyptian Industry Ministry is reportedly in talks with an unnamed Chinese luxury car manufacturer to potentially produce its cars in Egypt, Al Mal reports, citing a source it says has knowledge of the matter. The company will reportedly produce 5k cars in the first phase of operations to serve both the domestic and international market, with a portion of the cars pegged for export. The company is reportedly considering either Egypt and Morocco as a location for the production line.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices rose in early morning trading after two sessions of losses as concern grows regarding Libya’s oil field closures, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures climbed USD 0.09 to USD 78.74 a barrel by 05.55 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by USD 0.15 to trade at USD 74.67 a barrel. Halted production in several Libyan oil fields could disrupt supply for several weeks, with one consulting firm estimating output disruptions of between 900k and 1 mn barrels per day (bpd).

#2- Pundits are divided on whether Opec+ will move forward with its proposed production boost next quarter, due to persistent concerns about demand impact prices, according to a Bloomberg survey. 12 analysts believe the cartel will proceed with the hike, while 11 think the move will be put on ice, and five expect it might be only partially implemented or dependent on a continued production freeze in Libya.

A bearish outlook for oil next year: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley lowered their price predictions due to rising global supplies, including potential increases from Opec+, Bloomberg reports. Goldman Sachs now forecasts benchmark Brent crude will average USD 77 / bbl, while Morgan Stanley estimates futures to range between USD 75-78. Both banks expect a surplus in the crude market, leading to lower prices throughout the year.

#3- Baltic index rebounds after two-day losses: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose by nearly 2% to 1,755 points yesterday. The capesize index, which tracks vessels transporting 150k ton cargo, rose 128 points to 2,883. The panamax index, which tracks vessels carrying 60-70k cargo, maintained its decline dipping 31 points to 1,350. The smaller vessel segment supramax lost one point coming in at 1,316.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Saudi Railways transported over 13 mn tons of goods via freight train in 1H 2024, removing over 1 mn truck journey’s from its roads in the corresponding period, SPA reports.

#2- Iran’s container operations increased 4% y-o-y to 1 mn TEUs in the first five months of the Iranian calendar 2024 year (20 March to 21 August), Tehran Times reports, citing Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization data. Some 94 mn tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at Iranian ports. More than 10.9 mn tons of oil products and 21.2 mn tons of non-oil goods were unloaded, while 31.1 mn tons of oil products and 29.8 mn tons of non-oil products were loaded.

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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.