Good morning, folks. The big revival and strengthening of Egyptian-Turkish trade relations is dominating the headlines this morning, but we also have a new mega railway project in Jordan to sink our teeth into. Let’s jump right in.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Egypt-bound investments are on the horizon: China National Building Material Company(CNBM) is interested in setting up a specialized 5 mn sqm industrial zone in Ain Sokhna, CNBM representatives told Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) head Gamal Walid El Din yesterday. The proposed zone would focus on renewable energy industries — including wind turbine blades for electricity generation and solar energy systems.

Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly is currently attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and will reportedly ink a number of MoUs and contracts related to — still as of yet unspecified — investments in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Egyptian telecommunications sector. The day before the forum kicked off, we got news that the country is extending a CNY 100 mn development grant — currently worth around EGP 681 mn or USD 14 mn — in order to implement a number of new joint projects.

IN OTHER EGYPT NEWS- TotalEnergies has a plan to put Egypt’s LNG facilities to good use: French energy company TotalEnergies wants to supply gas from its fields in Cyprus to Egypt for liquefaction and re-export as LNG or to be fed directly into the grid, according to a statement. The company is also evaluating investment offerings included in the government’s new and gas exploration tender that is currently being prepared.

Déjà vu? Earlier in the week, we heard an energy corridor connecting Egypt and Cyprus that would carry natural gas and renewable energy was discussed by Oil Minister Karim Badawi and his Cypriot counterpart Giorgos Papanastasiou. Like with TotalEnergies, the two sides discussed sending Cypriot natural gas to Egypt to be liquified and exported as LNG to global markets.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices inched up from multi-month lows after Opec+ sources revealed plans to delay a planned 180k bpd output hike in October and US stockpiles decreased, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures for November gained USD 0.15 to USD 72.85 by 04.02 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for October inched up USD 0.15 to USD 69.35 a barrel. Brent crude futures dropped 1.4% in the previous session to their lowest close since June 2023 and WTI shed 1.6% yesterday to the lowest price since December 2023.

#2- Baltic index snaps gains: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — dropped 2.3% to 1,902 points on Wednesday, breaking a two-day streak in gains. The capesize index dipped 3.7% to 3,224 points and the panamax index remained flat at 1,300 points. The smaller supramax index lost another 9 points to 1,271 points.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia will host SkyMove MENA on Tuesday, 10 September and Wednesday, 11 September in 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.

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