Good morning, ladies and gents. We’re starting off the week with a relatively balanced read — mostly led by good news in the world of ports, planes, and power plays. Leading our issue today is a fresh boost for DP World, which secured another five years at Thailand’s busiest container gateway — tightening its grip on one of Southeast Asia’s key trade hubs.

Plus: Pakistan-Iran talks seem to have made some headway, with Qatar managing to export itsfirst LNG cargo — bound for a Pakistani port — through Hormuz since the conflict started. Islamabad reportedly expects three more vessels to ship Qatari LNG through the waterway over the coming days.

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LNG — Qatar appears to have pushed its first LNG cargo through Hormuz since disruptions began. The Qatari tanker, Al Kharaitiyat, departed Ras Laffan en route to Port Qasim in Pakistan under a state-to-state supply agreement between the two countries. Iran reportedly approved the shipment as Pakistan pushes to secure permission for a limited number of LNG tankers to transit the strait.

IN CONTEXT- Two Qatari LNG tankers were halted near Hormuz earlier last month as the conflict disrupted outbound gas flows. However, the UAE’s Adnoc managed to move two LNG cargoes out of the region recently.

The market is now watching whether this was a one-off or the start of a restart: QatarEnergy’s European customer Edison expects the Gulf producer could initially restore around two-thirds of contracted LNG volumes in a “month or a month and a half” following any kind of “lasting” peace agreement, the Italian utility’s CEO Nicola Monti said.

QatarEnergy appears to have kept enough production alive to avoid a cold restart, keeping operation levels at a minimum by continuing LNG exports to Kuwait — a move that could allow a faster ramp-up once wider export routes reopen. The Qatari gas giant had extended force majeure on its supply till mid-June.

CARGO — DP World is rolling out ins. coverage for cargo traveling through regional trade routes, with the logistics giant stating that coverage will be available across multi-modal options and — unlike other policies which leave gaps for storage and inland transport operations — will cover the whole supply chain operation.

The fine print: The policy covers damage and physical losses caused by war-linked events, with coverage limits of USD 400 mn for shipping and USD 1 mn for inland operations.

This is the UAE taking matters into its own hands to help encourage global logistics firms to continue to operate in the region. Standard commercial ins. policies often have war exclusion clauses that mean coverage can be canceled with just seven days' notice. DP World is providing a safety net that allows trade to continue even when geopolitical tensions rise.

RAIL — Iran’s trade detours inland? Iran is leaning on rail freight for inland trade with China as Tehran moves to keep goods moving under mounting pressure on its ports due to the US blockade. Cargo trains from Xi’an to Tehran are now running every three to four days, up from roughly one departure a week before the war.

The lane is becoming an emergency channel, but not a cheap one. Demand for the corridor is already feeding through into pricing, with quotes for a standard 40-ft container reaching as high as USD 7k, roughly 40% above normal levels. Each Xi’an-Tehran rail service carries around 50 standard 40-ft containers, while a long-haul container ship can carry thousands.

Next on the rail map: Tehran is also working on deepening its rail cooperation with Islamabad, with a focus on upgrading the Taftan-Zahedan link and the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul freight route — giving Iran another land-side corridor to move cargo when seaborne routes are constrained.

Market watch

Oil prices surged this morning after US President Donald Trump criticized Iran’s response to a US peace proposal — fueling supply concerns as the Strait of Hormuz remained mostly closed, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures gained USD 4.16 to trade at USD 105.45 / bbl by 03.40 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased USD 4.38 to USD 99.80 / bbl.

The Baltic Index breaks winning streak: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — fell 1.9% to 2,978 points on Friday. The capesize slipped 3.6%% to 4,955 points, while the panamax index increased 1.7% to 2,233. The smaller supramax was up 0.1% to 1,522 points.

The Drewry World Container Index increased 3% at USD 2,286 per 40-ft container last week, snapping three weeks of declines, according to the latest index readings. The lift came as transpacific and Asia-Europe rates moved higher, with Shanghai-Los Angeles rose (5%) and Shanghai-New York (7%), and Shanghai-Rotterdam (2%). The rebound still looks surcharge-led rather than demand-led, with excess capacity and weak demand continuing to weigh on Asia-Europe despite carriers pushing firmer (Freight All Kinds) FAK rates and managing supply through blank sailings and capacity reductions.

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