Good morning, friends. We’re heading into the weekend with a brisk read, topped with debt and investment updates from Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi. Earnings also continued to trickle in, with AD Ports Group reporting a solid quarter across all segments. Shall we?

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- A joint venture (JV) between Saudi Aramco and freight giant DHL is reportedly shopping for investors to back a USD 267 mn distribution center project in the Kingdom, sources familiar with the matter told Ashraq Business. The pair has reportedly presented the project to several business families in the Gulf, as well as Canadian investment management firm Brookfield Asset Management.

The pitch: The pair is looking to offer possible investors a permanent ownership in the Dammam-based facility, which will be developed on a Built-to-Order (BTO) model where future tenants secure spots pre-construction.

Background: The JV, dubbed Advanced Supply Management Operations (Asmo), was initially set up in 2023 to develop new end-to-end procurement and logistics hubs in the Kingdom before expanding outside in the region. Asmo launched operations at its first warehouse in Riyadh back in January — its first project in a network planned across six locations in the Kingdom.

Warehousing, distribution, and fulfillment spaces in the Kingdom are expected to be in hot demand, as the country’s e-commerce and B2C markets continue their upward trend. In 1Q 2024, Saudi was ranked among the top 10 fastest-growing e-commerce markets, standing at 41.3k existing registrations, up 6% y-o-y.

#2- Iraq, Syria to restart joint pipelines? The Iraqi and Syrian governments are forming a committee to explore restarting an oil pipeline connecting Iraq to Syria’s Baniyas, the Iraq News Agency reports. Both parties are contemplating hiring an international consultant to assess the feasibility of its rehabilitation. Iraq is also looking to resume oil exports via a separate pipeline to Lebanon’s Tripoli, the news report says.

Iraq could use another outlet for oil: Baghdad is one of many Arab countries whose oil outflow relies heavily on the Strait of Hormuz, with around 83% of its crude exports passing through the strait. While Baghdad still possesses another pipeline that can transport oil — from Kirkuk to Ceyhan — via Turkey, the pipeline has a limited capacity of 500k bbl/d and has been offline since March 2023.

Other rerouting options: Iraq could secure its future flows against maritime disruptions by reviving some of its stalled pipeline projects. These include a Jordan pipeline connection — a USD 9 bn project long stalled due to political considerations — and a project to transfer Iraqi crude through Syria, either towards its Mediterranean ports or into Lebanon, as discussed by officials from both countries back in April.

#3- Egypt is planning to launch its new USD 1.6 bn Qena-Safaga high-speed rail line by 1H 2026, three government officials told Asharq Business. The project — the third of its type in a 1.8k km new high-speed electrified network planned across the country — will be implemented by a consortium comprising Siemens Mobility, Arab Contractors, Orascom Construction, and Sewedi Electric, under the supervision of the National Tunnel Authority, an official told the news outlet.

BACKGROUND- The new 175-km line will link Upper Egypt’s Qena to the Red Sea’s Hurghada and Safaga and boast a daily capacity of 200k passengers and 1.5k tons of cargo, according to the National Authority for Tunnels’ website. Siemens-led consortia are also leading two similar projects — one connecting Ain Sokhna and Marsa Matrouh, and another linking 6th of October and Aswan.

#4- Syria seeks more funds through investment forums: The Syria Recovery and Investment Forum will be held in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi this September to raise funds to rebuild Syria’s war-torn infrastructure, TradeArabia reports. Syria’s reconstruction is expected to cost anywhere between USD 250-400 bn, according to a 2019 assessment from the US-based think tank Carnegie Endowment. The events will court funders from several sectors, including ports, housing, and energy, following up on the event’s Dubai launch last month.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices gained this morning amid concerns over speculations on possible sanctions on Russian oil trade despite the upcoming US-Russia talks tomorrow, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures went up USD 0.24 to reach USD 65.87 / bbl by 03.56 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by USD 0.21 to trade at USD 62.85/ bbl.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global oil demand to grow by 700k bbl/d in 2026, according to the IEA’s August oil market report. The agency kept its 2025 demand forecast unchanged at 104.4 mn bbl/d, with growth of 680k bbl/d, despite weaker-than-expected consumption in China, India, Egypt, and Brazil in recent months.

REMEMBER- Opec is more bullish on demand next year: Opec raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2026 to 1.4 mn bbl / d — 100k bbl / d higher than previously expected — on the back of strong economic activity in its monthly outlook earlier this week.

Global oil supply was flat in July at 105.6 mn bbl/d, as a 230k bbl/d fall in Opec+ output to 42.72 mn bbl/d was offset by gains from non-Opec+ producers. Higher Opec+ targets for September are set to lift global supply growth to 2.5 mn bbl/d this year and 1.9 mn bbl/d in 2026, with non-Opec+ accounting for half.

This means it’s on track for a surplus: “While oil market balances look ever more bloated as forecast supply far eclipses demand towards year-end and in 2026, additional sanctions on Russia and Iran may curb supplies from the world’s third and fifth largest producers,” the Paris-based agency said.

#2- Baltic index snaps losing streak: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 0.4% to 2,025 points on Wednesday. The capesize increased 0.6% to 3,280 points, while the panamax index dipped by 0.1% to 1,594 points. The smaller supramax index went up by 0.5% to 1,336 points.

DATA POINTS-

#1-Boeing sees drop in July deliveries: Aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing has seen its aircraft deliveries drop 20% m-o-m to 48 aircraft in July 2025, Reuters reports. The firm delivered 37 of its 737 MAX, over eight 787s, two 777 freighter jets and one 767. Still, the July deliveries figures represent a 12% rise from last year.

Boeing still behind Airbus: While Airbus’ deliveries also decreased by 13% y-o-y in July, Boeing’s European rival still delivered 19 more jets to record 67 new deliveries.

On a 1H basis, Boeing’s commercial carrier deliveries rose by 60% y-o-y to reach 280 in 1H 2025 — also still way below Airbus’ figures, which delivered 306 aircraft during the same period.

#2- Airports across the UAE over 2.2 mn tons of cargo in 1H 2025, up 4.7% y-o-y, with national carriers handling 67% of the total, Wam reports. Air traffic movements rose 6.2% y-o-y to 531k, with Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait, Mumbai, and Bahrain ranked as the busiest routes by weekly flights.

#3- Emirates SkyCargo has increased its cargo capacity to and from East and Southeast Asia to up to 21k tons per week, according to Dubai Media Office. This comes after the company expanded its network, now serving a total of 25 locations across 12 different countries within the region. The air cargo major now offers regular freight trips — about 44 per week — to nine hubs in the region, as well as an average of 13 weekly charter services to and from East Asia.

***YOU’RE READING EnterpriseAM Logistics, the essential MENA publication for senior execs who care about the industry that connects producers and retailers to global markets. We’re out Monday through Thursday by 9:15am in Cairo and Riyadh and 11:15am in the UAE.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders’ Conference on Monday, 25 August until Friday, 29 August in Dubai. The conference will host global industry leaders, policymakers and stakeholders to discuss how AI is changing procurement and supply chain efficiency, sustainability and risk management.

Oman will host Transport Middle East on Monday, 1 September until Wednesday, 3 September in Salalah. The conference will host 35 international speakers and over 50 exhibitors from the maritime sector to discuss global transportation and logistics.

Saudi Arabia will host the Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference on Wednesday, 3 and Thursday, 4 September in Jeddah. The event is set to gather over 60 speakers and more than 3k participants to discuss maritime decarbonization, digital transformation, regulatory frameworks, capacity building, and sustainable practices.

Algeria will host the Intra-African Trade Fair on Thursday, 4 September until Wednesday, 10 September in Algiers. The fair will host over 75 countries and 2k exhibitors across several sectors to explore investment prospects and exchange information on trade between B2B and B2G.

Oman will host the Comex Global Technology Show on Sunday, 7 September and run till Wednesday, 10 September in Muscat. The event will host over 360 participants and 133 tech startups to show achievements in eGovernment, fintech, smart cities, health tech, agritech and cybersecurity.

Saudi Arabia will host the Smart Ports & Logistics Transformation Summit on Monday, 15 September and Tuesday, 16 September in Jeddah. The summit will host over 40 global and local speakers, industry experts and policymakers to explore smart port solutions, port operations and logistics within Saudi Arabia.

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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