Good morning, friends. We have a brisk read for you this morning, led by Egypt’s plans for a customs system overhaul, as well as natural gas supply chains updates from across the region.
Up first: The Egyptian Finance Ministry is weighing an overhaul of its customs structure, targeting 150 production inputs for tariff slashes of 10–30%. The move aims to back local industry by fixing long-standing customs distortions that favored foreign goods over local assembly. This protectionist push is a cornerstone of the state’s ambitious target to raise industry’s contribution to GDP from 14% to 20% by 2030.

On the natural gas supply chains front, we take a look at Egypt’s shift toward a toll-booth gas hub model. With domestic production stagnating, the strategy now leans heavily on Egypt’s unique status as a regional middleman, utilizing its 2.8 bcf/d regasification capacity to route gas from neighbors like Israel and Cyprus to regional markets. This is similar to Turkey’s re-export strategy that targets Europe.

ALSO: The UAE continues its global energy expansion, with Adnoc’s XRG securing an equity stake in the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) — an integrated gas supply chain project including the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans Anatolian Pipeline, and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. The move signals a broader play for European energy markets, aiming to capitalize on SGC’s pipeline infrastructure transporting Caspian natural gas through Turkey to European markets.

The big logistics story abroad

Elon Musk is merging SpaceX with xAI, creating a USD 1.25 tn venture, people in the know told Bloomberg. The move sets the stage for Musk to carry out his plan of setting up data centers in the planet’s orbit — he claims that space will be the cheapest place for AI computing in two to three years. Properties formerly owned by xAI — Grok chatbot and X.com — now fall under SpaceX’s umbrella.

The world’s richest man still intends to take SpaceX public this year, in an IPO that could see the company raise as much as USD 50 bn, a source told Bloomberg.

AND- Our usual dose of global trade updates: US President Donald Trump has agreed to trim punitive tariffs on India on the condition that New Delhi stops buying Russian oil, reducing the levies from 25% to 18%. India will slash its levies on Washington down to zero. After a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said New Delhi has agreed to buy more oil from Venezuela as well as upwards of USD 500 bn in US energy and other products.

Happening today

TheMiddle East Bunkering Convention kicks off today in Dubai, bringing together marine fuel suppliers, shipowners, and energy traders to navigate a volatile period for regional shipping. We expect the two-day event to focus heavily on the Red Sea’s impact on refueling patterns and the UAE’s accelerating transition toward LNG and ammonia bunkering.

Watch this space

M&As — Mubadala to back USD 10 bn buyout of Singapore data giant: Mubadala and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC are in talks to join KKR & Co and Singapore Telecommunications in their bid to purchase ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) — a Singapore-based data center operator — in a transaction that could value the operator at above USD 10 bn, Bloomberg reports, citing sources it says are in the know. The sovereign wealth funds would back the bid as minority co-investors. More details could be announced later this week, the sources said.

STT GDC is a global data center player that operates over 100 facilities across 20 countries. KKR and Singapore Telecommunications became minority owners in the firm after securing a USD 1.3 bn stake last year.

ZONES — Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Freezones is ramping up the full-scale operation of its unified investment licensing platform, a move intended to be the final nail in the coffin for the multiple-window red tape that has long plagued the local business environment. Following a pilot phase that began in mid-2025, the platform has now moved into a broader rollout as the state’s primary interface for securing operational approvals, according to an authority statement.

Gone are the days of having to trudge from ministry or authority building to another to get a project over the line — they say — with the portal centralizing inputs from 41 different government entities into a single online gateway. The platform is designed to act as a unified digital window for 460 different services, including the various licenses, approvals, and permits required to launch and operate economic activities.

The authority is also doubling down on a reduced turnaround time, committing to issuing final licenses within a maximum of 20 business days, provided all necessary documentation is correctly submitted.

Why it matters: The often overwhelming maze of government institutions, red tape, and delays has been flagged as one of the main frustrations of investors — both foreign and local — for as far as we can remember. If the platform really can enforce a 20-day turnaround across 41 separate bureaucracies and work as it should, the improvement to the ease of doing business could have a significant impact on investment flows.

What’s next? Investors will be eager to see if the platform can really offer what it promises. Getting 41 government entities to all work together effectively and efficiently to meet a 20-day turnaround will be no easy feat, and there’s always the risk that minor documentation correction requests and other tactics by government clerks may spring up as a way to get around the 20-day deadline.

Market watch

Oil prices dipped this morning on the back of possible de-escalation in US-Iran tensions and weakening greenback, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures were down USD 0.34 to trade at USD 65.96 / bbl as of 06:23 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased by USD 0.31 to USD 61.81 / bbl. The dip is in line with Monday’s trading sessions’ trend that saw oil prices plummet by over 4%.

The Baltic Index dips: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — declined 1.1% to 2,124 points on Monday, buoyed by weaker demand for the bigger segment. The capesize dipped 2% to 3,434 points, while the panamax index rose 0.3% to 1,748. Meanwhile, the smaller supramax index gained 0.5% to hit 1,072.

***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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