Good morning, friends. We have a brisk issue for you this morning, with the single big story being how non-oil private sector activity did in May in Qatar, UAE, KSA and Egypt.
ALSO- Don’t miss our Coffee With… interview with Schenker Egypt’s CEO, Khaled Morsy, who talked to us about how Egypt can boost its logistics performance and accelerate exports, and what it needs to do to improve its transit trade.
ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.
We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.
Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.
That said, we're looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.
NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.
During the program you will learn:
- The key news stories and trends shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region, across various sectors;
- Business and finance for non-finance people: Whether it's industry jargon or key concepts or simply how to read a balance sheet;
- How to construct an Enterprise story: From idea formulation down to the structure, style and tone of writing;
- How to develop sources that will give you the key insights needed to tell a complete story;
- How to communicate these stories with the confidence and language of an insider.
Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists, while also working on and filing stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.
Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.
HAPPENING TODAY-
DATA POINT #1- Iran saw a 57% y-o-y rise in imports during May, amounting to USD 4.9 bn worth of goods,according to customs data cited byIran International. China, the UAE, Turkey, Germany, and Russia were the country’s top exporters. Non-oil exports rose 6.1% y-o-y during the same period to USD 3.8 bn. The non-oil trade balance saw a USD 1.1 bn deficit, compared with a USD 558 mn surplus a month earlier.
DATA POINT #2- The Dubai Airport Freezone’s (DAFZ) logistics movement management system DAFZ-WAYsaw a 197% y-o-y rise in transactions in 2022, according to a press release. It also witnessed a 44% increase in the number of companies employing the solution during the same period. The DAFZ-WAYsystem allows customers, cargo handlers, and local companies to move goods through the freezone’s gate using a QR-code-based pass.
DATA POINT #3- KSA’s King Abdullah Port sets container handling record: King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia has set a record for the highest number of containers handled during a single call at a Saudi port, according to a statement, which did not disclose the exact date the record was set. The port handled a little over 20.1k containers on the 13.1k TEU container ship MSC Renee within a span of 77.46 hours.
DATA POINT #4- Qatari ports handled 227 vessels in May, a 6% y-o-y increase, according to a Mwani Qatar statement. The month saw Qatari ports process over 95k TEUs of containers and almost 83k tonnes of cargo. Livestock volumes grew by 727% and building materials by 95% compared to the same period last year.
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MARKET WATCH-
Saudi Arabia will voluntarily cut oil production by 1 mn barrels per day (bbl / d), the country’s Energy Ministry said in a statement, after the OPEC+ group of oil producers failed to agree on new curbs during a tense meeting in Vienna yesterday. The reduction comes on top of its 500k bbl / d voluntary cut in April, and will see the kingdom’s production fall to its lowest level in several years. Speaking following the meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom “will do whatever is necessary” to stabilize the market. April’s supply cut has failed to support oil prices, which have been on a downward trend in recent weeks on fears of a global economic slowdown.
This could ultimately affect tonnage supply in the crude tanker market: If OPEC+ maintains production cuts, there may be a supply shortage in 2H 2023, driven by increasing demand from China, Drewry writes. Falling oil prices and concerns over the global economy had caused Brent prices to dip below USD 75 per barrel earlier this year, but prices have been on the rise over the past few weeks following OPEC+’s surprise oil production cut in April. If the market remains in deficit, OPEC+ may lift the production curbs, raising the risk of Russian crude prices surpassing the G7's USD 60 / bbl cap, Drewry anticipates.
It could also add to the risks rising from a surge in “gray trade”: The possibility of a surge in gray trade and a rise in ship-to-ship transfers “cannot be ruled out,” Drewry writes. This will tighten the already tight supply of tonnage in the crude tanker market, the maritime research consultancy says.
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
The IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit kicked off on Sunday at Hilton Bomonti Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey and will end today. The event gathered airline leaders from across the globe to discuss post-pandemic aviation, sustainability in aviation, operational challenges from the past year and the future of the industry, according to the event program (pdf).
Bidding for the project developer contract for the joint Jordan-Iraq economic citybegan on 30 May, according to Jordan News Agency (Petra). The door will remain open for bidding until 29 June. The project, which will provide integration across an array of fields and sectors, is located on the borders of the two countries, according to Petra. The industries and products in the economic zone will benefit from Jordan’s trade agreements with other countries, Petra reported earlier.
Deadline for design bids for Al Ghuwaifat Customs Clearance Center is coming up: The Abu Dhabi Investment Office and the Department of Municipalities and Transport are inviting proposals for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of Al Ghuwaifat Customs Clearance Center in Abu Dhabi, Construction Week reports. The deadline for proposal submissions is 3 July.
Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

