Good morning, friends. We’re back in a midweek news slump today, with just a couple of big updates from the UAE, though we expect the newsflow to pick up soon as conferences wrap across the region and PMI figures for the region drop later today.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- The UAE’s national carrier, Emirates , has inked an agreement with Shell Aviation for a 300k gallon supply of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use at its hub in Dubai International Airport (DXB). The agreement will see the first SAF delivery taking place before year’s end, marking the first time SAF will be supplied via the airport’s fuelling system.

^^ We have everything on this story and more in the news well, below.

DP World faces union strikes in Australia: The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has notified DP World that its members will engage in strikes and work bans between 6 October and 20 October at ports in Melbourne, Sydney, Fremantle, and Brisbane, Australia’s Financial Review reported. MUA is pushing for significant pay increases, and claims that DP World seeks to roll out changes that would see dock workers’ pay reduced by up to 32% and roster changes that would disrupt family life. DP World has said that it has contingency plans but that the industrial action will entail disruptions to supply chains, especially considering its timing ahead of holiday season, and Australia’s economy, according to statements by company officials cited by FR.

The world’s first CO2 border tax officially kicks off: The EU has launched the first phase of the world’s first carbon border, requiring importers to report emissions from products sold in Europe or risk fines, Reuters reported. The CO2 levy — called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) — will require firms importing steel, cement, aluminum, electricity, fertilizers, and hydrogen into the EU to report CO2 emitted during manufacturing, and eventually charging pollution fees on those products by 2026. The planned tariff has caused disquiet among trading partners, especially Turkey, Ukraine, China, and Russia. Last month, China's top climate envoy Xie Zhenhua urged countries not to resort to unilateral measures like the EU levy, the newswire said.

DATA POINT #1- Qatar’s balance of payments surplus widened 104.3% in 2Q 2023 to QAR 7. 9 bn, according to central bank figures (pdf). The country’s account related to goods during the period reached a surplus of QAR 59.6 bn, while its account for services hit QAR 31.3 bn. The surplus came off the back of increased diversification in the Qatar’ economy, Reuters cites the central bank as saying.

DATA POINT #2- Mwani Qatar’s Hamad, Old Doha, and Ruwais ports handled some 163k tons of cargo in September on 266 vessels, marking a 23% y-o-y increase, according to a statement. The ports handled some 122k TEUs in containers, 163k tons of general and bulk cargo, and 6k roro units, according to the statement. The ports also saw its handling of building materials rise 65% y-o-y to 45k tons, while its livestock handling rose 450% y-o-y to 28.6k heads of livestock.

DATA POINT #3- Abu Dhabi’s transport sector was among the fastest growing segments of the economy in 2Q 2023, according to data ( pdf ) from the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi. The transport and storage sector expanded 17% y-o-y during the quarter, and contributed to 1.9% of the emirate’s non-oil GDP, according to separate figures ( pdf ).

WATCH THIS SPACE- Saudi Arabia and Palestine are set to submit a draft agreement on enhancing cooperation in postal and logistics services to boost cooperation and exchange of expertise, Raya reports. The announcement was made following a meeting between Saudi Transport and Logistics Minister Saleh bin Nasser Al Jasser and Palestinian Communications and Information Technology Minister Ishaq Sidr, where they discussed strengthening logistics cooperation. The two officials also discussed potentially linking Palestinian and Saudi logistics companies to help expand their reach. Sidr also requested assistance from KSA to help Palestine conclude an agreement for shipping Chinese e-commerce platform Shein products to Palestine.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The fourth Extraordinary Congress of the Universal PostalUnion (UPU) kicked off on Sunday in Riyadh and will run till Thursday, Saudi press agency SPA reported. Representatives from 192 countries are expected to attend the event, which is held under the co-chairmanship of the Saudi Postal Corporation, and will discuss the impact of UPU decisions on the postal and logistics sector and how to keep pace with technological developments and address challenges. It will also touch on how to build a postal system that promotes economic and social development.

A delegation of Kuwait’s Chamber of Commerce led by Mohammed Jassim Al Saqr landed in Canada earlier this week for a joint economic forum, and will stay till Thursday, Kuwait’s Al Anba reports. The forum will review avenues for cooperation and investment in several sectors including oil and gas, transportation, logistics, AI and innovation, banking and finance, among others. The Kuwaiti delegation will include several members of the chamber of commerce, representatives from government agencies and Kuwaiti companies.

MARKET WATCH-

Fuel oil inventories at Fujairah up 4% in September: The Fujairah bunkering hub imported 295k barrels per day (bbl/d) of fuel oil for the month, down 86k bbl/d from August, according to Vortexa tracking data cited by marine fuel platform Engine. Iran accounted for 31% of Fujairah’s imports for the month, with Russia contributing 27% and Iraq 20%. The hub’s fuel oil exports dropped 120k bbl/d on a monthly basis, settling at 366k bpd for September. Singapore took the lion’s share of the month’s exports, accounting for 45%, while 7% of September’s exports went to the US, and 6% to Saudi Arabia, according to numbers cited in the report.

OPEC oil output rose for its second consecutive month in September on the back of supply hikes in Iran and Nigeria, despite cuts carried out by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members, according to a Reuters survey. Iran’s output came in at 3.15 mn barrels per day (bbl/dl) — its highest level of exports since 2018 — as it continues to thaw relations with other countries, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Nigeria managed to export 110 mn bbl / d without major disruptions, which commonly occur in the region due to crude theft and a lack of security. Saudi Arabia’s output for August and September came in at close to 9 mn bbl/d, according to the survey, while Iraq and the UAE also increased output slightly.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The sixth session of the Saudi-Portuguese Joint Committee kicked off yesterday and will wrap today in Lisbon, Portugal. The two-day event will see a Saudi delegation headed by Economy and Planning Minister Faisal F. Alibrahim meet with their Portuguese counterparts to hold talks on boosting economic, trade, and investment ties.

The 20th edition of Automechanika Dubai is set to take place between 2-4 October at the Dubai World Trade Center. The event functions as a trading hub for automotive players in regions facing accessibility challenges, including the MENA region, Asia and CIS nations. More than 1k exhibitors from over 53 countries will attend the event, with almost 43k trade visitors from 145 countries joining.

The Total Freight Worldwide’s Fresh Summit 2023 will take place in Madrid, Spain on 4 October, where participants will discuss the latest trends in transportation of perishable cargo.

A Saudi-Turkish Summit is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey on 8-12 October. Organized by the Türkiye Exporters Assembly in coordination with the Turkish Commerce Ministry, the summit will be attended by Turkish exporters and 70 members of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Chamber of Commerce. The participants will also include representatives from an array of sectors including food, non-ferrous metals, textiles, ready-made garments, chemicals, and furniture.

The GCC-Türkiye Economic Forum is set to take place on 11-13 November in Çırağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey. The event will cover trade, investment and finance, energy, infrastructure, transportation and logistics, industry, tourism, agriculture and food, and sports sectors.

Shaping the Future of Shipping Summit , organized by the International Chamber of Shipping, will take place on 9 December in the UAE. The event will bring together government officials and leaders in energy, maritime, and all parts of the supply chain to discuss plans to address climate change and help transition the industry towards sustainability.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.