Good morning, folks. We’re inching closer to the weekend with a morning read heavy on investment news this morning, with updates rolling in from Saudi, UAE, Morocco, Egypt, and Qatar cutting across multiple subsectors of our industry.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- The first phase of DP World’s USD 80 mn Sokhna Logistics Park is 65% complete, according to a statement. The 300k sqm park — located in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) — is slated for completion in June 2025.

Details: The facility — located 10 km from Sokhna Port — will include bonded and non-bonded warehouses, open cargo container yards, freight forwarding areas, and customs clearing zones.

Background: DP World inked the construction agreement for the investment with the SCZone Main Development Company in August 2022 and broke ground on the project in late 2023. The first phase of the project had an initial investment ticket of USD 50 mn and was slated for completion by the close of 2024.

Egypt eyeing more logistics projects: Egypt is reportedly planning to set up four logisticszones across the country during 1H 2025 with investments ranging from EGP 18-20 bn. The authority is looking to kick off more projects in partnership with foreign investors, particularly from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

IN OTHER UPDATES FROM EGYPT- The government is planning to source more wheat locally in a bid to cut wheat imports this year, Egypt’s Supply Minister Sherif Farouk told Asharq Business. It is currently aiming to buy 4 mn tons of local wheat in 2025, an 11% y-o-y increase, with plans on importing some 6 mn tons of wheat from abroad, a 3.3% y-o-y drop from the year prior, Farouk said. The country’s total wheat consumption in 2024 reached 20 mn tons and is expected to remain at the same level in 2025, Farouk added.

ICYMI- Egypt’s total wheat imports hit a 10-year peak at 14.2 mn tons in 2024, marking a 31.5% y-o-y increase.

On the demand side: Egypt’s total wheat consumption stood at nearly 20 mn tons last year, with a similar level expected this year, Farouk said.

REMEMBER- Egyptian state grain buyer GASC launched a tender in August 2024 for up to 3.8 mn tons of wheat for import over a seven-month period, marking its largest tender to date. GASC has also reportedly secured 3.12 mn metric tons of wheat to be supplied monthly between November and April back in October 2024.

ALSO- Egypt’s Suez Canal’s EGP 9 bn southern expansion has been completed, Suez Canal Authority head Osama Rabie said yesterday. The expansion will improve navigation through the canal by 28%, he told Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 14:15).

REMEMBER- Egypt has been working on a project to duplicate the remainder of the Suez Canal to better support two-way traffic, boost safety, and eliminate potential choke points.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Crude prices increased this morning despite tariff anxiety in response to reports of rising US stockpiles and healthier refining margins, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures went up by USD 0.25 to USD 76.75 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also saw an uptick of USD 0.28 to USD 73.04 a barrel by 04.08 GMT.

#2- Baltic index maintains downward spiral: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — fell 8 points to 801 on Tuesday. The capesize slumped by 31 points to 779, while the panamax index eased 17 points to 1,011. The smaller supramax index grew by 16 points to 710.

DATA POINT-

Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) saw its bottom line surge 40% y-o-y to EGP 4.3 bn (USD 85 mn) in 2H 2024, Chairman Walid Gamal El-Din told Asharq Business. The zone has recorded over USD 8 bn in investments for industrial, logistics, and service projects — amounting to about 255 projects — from 2022 to January 2025, Gamal added.

PSA-

Hapag-Lloyd to roll out new GRI: Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd will implement a general rate increase (GRI) to USD 300 per container shipped from Asia and Oceania to the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent starting 1 March 2025, according to a statement. The new rate will be applied to cargo transported in 20 and 40-ft dry, reefer, and special containers and high cube equipment. The countries affected include the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Kenya will host Air Cargo Africa from Wednesday, 19 February to Friday, 21 February in Nairobi. The trade fair, focused on aviation in the logistics sector, offers an inclusive platform to showcase multimodal transport solutions across the continent. The event , slated to gather over 2k visitors from over 50 countries, will host over 60 exhibitors and brands who will exhibit the latest developments in airfreight.

The UAE will host Dubai Freight Camp from Thursday, 20 February to Saturday, 22 February in Dubai. The event looks to connect new partners and businesses in the freight forwarding industry. Global members from freight networks Pangea and Connecta are invited to partake in the conference.

The UAE is holding AD Ports Group Capital Markets Day on Monday, 24 February in Abu Dhabi. The full-day, in-person event will see investors, analysts, corporate and investment bankers and other securities market professionals gather to evaluate AD Port’s financial performance and the group’s strategy going forward. Group and cluster senior management, as well as other guest speakers, will visit flagship assets in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE will host the WCA Worldwide Conference from Tuesday, 25 February to Saturday, 1 March in Dubai. The event — set to bring together over 4.5k freight forwarders from 179 countries — will host several workshops and courses over one week.

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