Foreign investors eye Syria’s cement industry

Syria’s cement is in hot demand

International investors flash interest in Syria’s cement industry: More than 10 companies, including foreign players from Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Czech Republic submitted offers in a tender to invest in the modernization of two cement plants in Aleppo and rural Damascus, Mahmoud Fadila, the head of the state-owned General Company for Manufacturing & Marketing of Cement and Construction Materials (Omran), told Sana. The tenders will be awarded within 30 days.

Cement will likely be a winning commodity in Syria in the next few years, as Syria embarks on post-conflict reconstruction efforts. The World Bank puts Syria’s reconstruction spending needs at some USD 216 bn.

ICYMI- Saudi’s Al Jouf Cement has been a key supplier of cement to Syria via short-term contracts since Assad was ousted, whereas UAE’s QBZ Group and Iraq’s Vertex recently rehabilitated cement facilities in Tartous and Hama.

OPEC+ to bump (theoretical) production quota next month

The UAE-less OPEC+ approved a c. 188k barrel per day increase in quota for members starting in July. That’s the fourth month in a row that cartel members will get a bump, but the number is — to a large degree — meaningless for Gulf-based members given that so little is actually making its way to market through Hormuz. OPEC+’s real output has slumped, standing at c. 33 mn bpd in April against 43 mn bpd before the war started.

Saudi eyes Pakistan logistics push

Saudi could soon become an investor in Pakistan’s logistics sector, after the Najd Gateway Holding and Saudi Business Council inked an MoU with Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan’s Arif Habib Dolmen REIT, and Pakistan Corporate Consortium to explore developing a 140-acre maritime business district on Karachi port land, according to a statement from the Pakistani Maritime Affairs Ministry. The commercial development is set to include an industrial park, Dawn reports, citing Pakistani Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry.

The agreement builds on a wider push by Islamabad to deepen maritime ties with the Kingdom. Last year, Pakistan advanced proposals for dedicated Saudi gateway terminals in Karachi and Gwadar, alongside direct shipping links connecting Jeddah with Karachi and Dammam with Gwadar, as part of its strategy to position itself as a trade bridge between the Gulf and Central Asia.

Why this matters: Going abroad with logistics investments would mark a new stage for Saudi, which spent the last few years heavily focused on domestic ports and logistics infrastructure, Oxagon, King Abdullah Economic City, and Jeddah Central. The UAE, in the meantime, has been a very active investor in overseas logistics, including in Pakistan where UAE’s logistics champions — AD Ports and DP World — are investing in port and rail concessions, as well as inland logistics and trade digital infrastructure.

Shot down

Kuwait is making a USD 2 bn purchase of US counter-drone systems and ammunition, after the US government approved the sale. The deal comes as renewed Iranian strikes targeted Kuwait and other GCC countries amid faltering ceasefire talks, and while some countries have pushed to diversify beyond the US for their defense needs — including with a spate of partnerships with Ukraine on drone defense.