Good morning, lovely people. We come to you on this fine Wednesday with the slowest news day we’ve seen in months in the logistics world, save for a few developments happening on the diplo front.
YES, BUT- We have a handy explainer on the various types of vessels cruising the world’s oceans for you — and what distinguishes them from each other — to sink your teeth into, and an insightful report from OECD and FAO on the MENA region’s prospects in agricultural trade over the next decade.
ALSO- A small programming note: Enterprise Logistics will be taking a publication holiday tomorrow in observance of Islamic New Year. We’ll be back in your inbox at the usual time on Monday, 24 July.
HAPPENING TODAY-
Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary are meeting today to propose an extension to the ban on domestic sales of Ukrainian grain until the end of the year, Bloombergreports. The move comes after Russia backed outof the Black Sea grain pact with Kyiv earlier this week. The current ban, in place until mid-September due to protests from local farmers over declining prices, bans domestic sales of Ukrainian grain but allows transit shipments to other countries. “We support Ukraine in every way, but under the condition that food imports can’t distort the internal market,” Slovak Agriculture Minister Jozef Bires said.
Background: Ukraine has urged the EU to lift the ban, claiming it helps Russia exert economic pressure on the country. The European Commission had previously signaled that it would phase out the restrictions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants the Black Sea grain export corridor to continue even after Russia has backed out, Reutersreports. The UN and Turkey-brokered agreement, inked last year, enabled Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea after Russia’s invasion. Several companies and shipowners have expressed readiness to continue grain supply through the corridor, Zelenskiy said, according to spokesperson Serhiy Nykyforov. Zelenskiy instructed the Foreign Ministry to inquire about the UN and Turkey’s willingness to uphold the agreement.
Hapag-Lloyd shipments from the Middle East to Turkey’s Mersin Port are subject to a congestion surcharge: The bump to shipping costs came into effect on Monday and affects dry and reefer containers, with a surcharge rate of USD 150 per TEU and USD 300 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), according to Port Technology International. Shipments to Mersin from the Indian Subcontinent and Far East are also affected by the changes.
SOUND SMART- Shipping surcharges are add-on fees applied to base shipment costs. Carriers apply surcharges to cover extra operational expenses outside their control, such as fuel price increases and additional labor costs.
Kurdistan’s two airports have resumed operations following a short four hour suspension caused by suspected drone activity in the Kurdish airspace, Arab News cites two unnamed security sources as saying. Three unidentified drones were detected by air defense radars at Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports, a security source told Iraqi news outlet Shafaq News, without clarifying where they came from.
WATCH THIS SPACE- Iraq establishes unit to drum up investments + oversee progress on Development Road: Iraq has set up a dedicated unit to oversee progress on the country’s USD 17 bn Development Road project, Trade Arabia reports, citing Iraqi Transport Ministry spokesperson Shada Radi. The chief function of the unit will be reaching out to the GCC and other countries for contributions to the project. The 1.2k km route is expected to bolster trade between Iraq, Turkey, and Europe, Trade Arabia said.
Background: Iraq announced the Development Road project, which includes plans for high speed rail and road links connecting Iraq’s Grand Faw Port to Turkey, at the end of May. The initiative represents a major upgrade to Iraq’s logistical infrastructure and is expected to see participation from GCC partners.
DATA POINT #1- Sharjah Airport handled 70k tons of cargo in 1H 2023, while aircraft movements rose 14% y-o-y to 46.9k, according to a statement. Sharjah is home to the region’s largest budget airline, Air Arabia, and is ramping up for a USD 653 mn expansion, according to a Khaleej Times report cited by Zawya.
DATA POINT #2- Dubai’s commercial transport activities sector contributed AED 16.1 bn to its economy in 2022 and created some 242k jobs through over 7k companies, WAMreports, citing Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The commercial and logistical transport sector contributed AED 8.5 bn in direct contributions and AED 7.6 bn in indirect contributions to the emirate’s economy. The number of registered commercial vehicles rose 16% y-o-y to over 300k vehicles.
DATA POINT #3- Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Port in 1H 2023 handled a record volume of container throughput, which rose 2.3% y-o-y, driven mostly by a 98% y-o-y increase in agricultural bulk cargo handled, Saudi Press Agency reports. The port also handled 20k standard containers in 77.5 hours from MSC’s Renee vessel, and welcomed the world’s largest container ship.
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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.
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.
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 on subject matter knowledge, while also working on constructing and filing Enterprise 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.
MARKET WATCH- Marine fuel sales at the world’s third largest bunkering hub in Fujairah fell 10.5% y-o-y to 3.55 mn tons in 1H 2023, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data cited by Reuters. Bunker fuel sales at the hub for June came in at about 600k tons, down 2.4% m-o-m and 6.5% lower y-o-y. These declines were in line with drops at the world’s largest bunkering hub in Singapore, where bunkering volumes hit four-month lows amid a decline in vessel traffic.
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
The fourth round of negotiations between the GCC and the UK for a trade agreement is kicking off today in London and will run till 28 July. The meetings will take place over two sessions of remote and in-person meetings, where the terms of the agreement will be discussed.
Touchdown Middle East will take place from 21-22 November 2023, in the Gulf Hotel in Bahrain. The event will be the region’s first annual data center industry conference and will bring together data center industry leaders, C-level executives and other industry influencers from across the Middle East. The event was created by The Gulf Data Centre Association (GDCA) and Kickstart Europe.
Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- The Enterprise Finance Forum is taking place on 18-19 September at the St. Regis Hotel in Cairo. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.
Day one is our Banking Forum, where we’ll dive deep into topics of interest to commercial and investment bankers, from an outlook on the 12 months to come in M&A, IPO, and debt capital markets to the national, regional, and global trends that are (re)shaping our industry.
Day two is all about Fintech and Non-Banking Financial Services. We’ll take a deep dive into everything from the magic of client acquisition to the prospects of consolidation and the coming of challenger banks.
** NEW: MORE NETWORKING TIME- Our agenda includes expanded networking time, including an expanded coffee break and a post-event networking room for you to interact with your peers and speak one-on-one with the team at Enterprise.
TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations just after the 30 June holiday.
Do you want to become a commercial partner? Ping a note to Moustafa Taalab, our head of commercial, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.
STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda in the weeks to come.
MISSED THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast to hear what went down: The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum,which took place last May.
WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.We’re releasing a new episode every Sunday morning.
IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- From deciding the target markets, to focusing on quality, marketing in new markets, and restructuring a business around exports, our panelists discuss and provide key insights on what businesses need to focus on when building an exports and FDI strategy. We were joined on that panel by Hossam Sallab, CEO and vice-chairman of Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica, Mark Wyllie, CEO of Beyti Egypt, and Kareem Abou Ghaly, the chairman and CEO of Pasta Regina.

