Good morning, ladies and gents. It’s another brisk read this morning as we dive into key investment and warehouse updates from UAE and Saudi players. Shall we?

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- FSRUs coming online: Egypt’s two recently-acquired floating storage regasification units (FSRUs) will begin operations sequentially starting today, after their connection to the national grid was previously delayed, a government source told EnterpriseAM. Only two out of six monthly LNG shipments needed to secure the energy supply were postponed due to the delayed FSRUs.

REMEMBER- The two FSRUs were expected to go online and begin feeding the national grid this week, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said last week. Once they come online, the Energos Eskimo and Energos Power will each add 750 mn cubic feet per day (mcf/d) to the country’s regasification capacity. The FRSU units — along with the incoming 450 mcf/d Energos Winter — will support the country’s incoming 160 LNG deliveries.

No electricity disruption: The energy demand was met through mazut shipments to operate power stations until regasification vessels are fully operational.

Egypt's LNG imports held steady this month despite peak summer electricity demand, according to Bloomberg shipping data. “The delay in installing the FSRUs has meant Egypt has been unable to ramp-up LNG imports. Imports over the first six months of 2025 of 2.41 mn tons were flat with 2H 2024 levels,” according to industry puplication the Middle East Economic Survey (Mees).

#2- Elsewedy Electric is mulling plans to build a phosphoric acid plant in Egypt poised for export purposes, CEO Ahmed Elsewedy told Asharq Business on the sidelines of Egypt Mining Forum in Cairo. The firm aims to conduct feasibility studies and assess phosphate reserves in the Sibaiyyah area of Aswan in the upcoming period. The investment ticket of the plant and the markets destined for exports have not been disclosed.

Similar projects already in the pipeline: Work is set to begin soon on a USD 658 mn phosphoric acid production complex in the New Valley Governorate — set up by a consortium of local state-owned players and two Chinese state-owned contracting firms. Earlier last year, a group of local and global investors submitted three proposals to set up phosphate and phosphoric acid fertilizer factories with a combined USD 1.6 bn in investments.

A growing global market: Egypt is looking to snatch a piece of the growing global market for phosphoric acid, which is projected to grow annually by a compound average of 4.6% to hit USD 81.3 bn by 2034, according to data from Precedence Research. The global market’s size in 2024 stood at USD 51.8 bn.

DATA POINT- In 2023, Egypt — ranking as the world’s 13th top exporter of phosphoric acid — maintained a positive net trade of the essential compound at about USD 100 mn, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

#3- Saudi city Jizan has received 10 people rescued from the Greek vessel Eternity C, which was attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea, Reuters reported yesterday. Four people were killed and another 15 people are now missing following a multi-day attack by sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades.

Background: Earlier this month, 22 people on board commercial vessel Magic Seas were rescued in the Red Sea by an AD Ports-operated ship after the vessel was attacked by the Yemen’s militant group.

The attacks are driving risk ins. up for shippers: War risk ins. premiums for vessels transiting the Red Sea have surged nearly to 1% (of the overall value of the ship) — up from 0.4% as of last week.

#4- EU targets US aircraft in tariff hit list: The EU has readied a list of US goods worth EUR 72 bn as part of new retaliatory levies against the US targeting aircraft, cars, car parts, and bourbon among other goods, Bloomberg reports. The levies would target EUR 11 bn worth of aircraft and aircraft parts, the largest single commodity listed, followed by upwards of EUR 9.4 bn worth of machinery and about EUR 8 bn worth of automotives.

The rationale: Among the criteria for selecting the goods was the “need to rebalance/level the playing field in light of the U.S. tariffs affecting EU exports to the U.S,” Politico reports, citing the 200-page document. Other criteria included the availability of alternative supply sources within and outside the bloc, as well as selecting goods with a steep relocation risk, the document said.

The measures would be rolled out in retaliation for the Trump administration’s decision to impose a 30% blanket tariff on EU imports starting 1 August, unless a compromise is reached in time.

What this means for aviation: Last March, Trump’s then-new tariff threats stoked fears of hiking US-based Boeing’s production costs. With the possibility of counter-measures by the EU looming, US-made aircraft could become too expensive for clients across the pond, potentially halting Boeing’s EU-bound orderbook and exacerbating the company’s string of woes in 2025. Meanwhile, the EU-based manufacturer Airbus has some flexibility against the trade spat, given it boasts a distributed manufacturing supply chain spanning both Europe and the US.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices went up this morning as markets brace for higher demand as the summer temperatures heat up, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures was up USD 0.13 to reach USD 68.84 a barrel by 04.11 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose USD 0.25 to trade at USD 66.77 a barrel.

ALSO- Opec tweak keeps Saudi in quota: The oil cartel relied on “secondary sources” in its latest monthly oil market report (pdf) to report Saudi oil production for June at just shy of 9.4 mn bbl / d, keeping it below its Opec+ quota. The secondary sources seem to have relied on supply-to-market in calculating the figure, in a rare departure from the usual wellhead production figures, Bloomberg reports, citing sources it said are familiar with the matter.

ICYMI- The Saudi Energy Ministry asked independent oil trackers earlier this week to report its June output using the alternative metric, citing a marketed supply of 9.35 mn bbl / d. The Ministry acknowledged Saudi briefly pumped extra oil into storage due to geopolitical tensions, but said the extra supply did not reach the market.

#2- Baltic index rises once again: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — has increased 4.7% to 1,866 points on Tuesday, buoyed by gains across all vessels. The capesize index rose 7% to 2,533 points, while the panamax index was up 2.1% to 1,990 points. The smaller supramax index climbed 3.5% to 1,287 points.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Iraqi ports handled upwards of 22 mn tons of cargo and received around 1.5k vessels in 1H 2025, the Iraq News Agency reports, citing General Company for Ports Director-General Farhan Al Fartousi. Khor Al Zubair Port handled the highest volume at around 9.7 mn tons, followed by Umm Qasr North Port at around 6.9 mn tons, and Umm Qasr South Port at around 5 mn tons. Abu Flous Port handled a volume of 461k tons.

#2- Iranian ports handled nearly 53 mn tons of cargo in 1Q of the current Iranian calendar year (21 March- 21 June), Tehran Times reports, citing the country’s Ports and Maritime Organization. The ports’ combined loading and unloading operations handled 52.7 mn tons, with 34.3 mn tons of non-oil goods and 18.6 mn tons of oil goods. Iran’s ports also handled 750k TEUs during the quarter.

PSAs-

#1- Syria will ban trucks coming from Egypt and Saudi Arabia from entering its territory starting 20 July, Director of Relations at the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports in Syria Mazen Alloush told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reports. Goods will instead be offloaded at the border for transfer. The move comes in response to ongoing restrictions on Syrian trucks entering both countries.

#2- Hapag-Lloyd rolls out new GRI: Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd will implement a general rate increase (GRI) of USD 500 for all cargo transported in 20 ft containers and of USD 700 per 40 ft containers from Turkey to the US East Coast, according to a statement. The GRI is applicable starting 1 September 2025 and is valid until further notice.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Mozambique will host Intermodal Africa on Tuesday, 22 July and run till Thursday, 24 July in Beira. The forum will host over 300 senior government officials, industry leaders, academics, senior executives, and harbor masters in the ports, shipping, and logistics sector. Attendees and speakers will be coming from countries across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Oman will host Transport Middle East on Monday, 1 September and run till 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 3-4 September at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel 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.

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