THIS MORNING: Mubadala’s Brazil port attracts interest from buyers + Khorfakkan Port to double handling capacity

Good morning, everyone. The UAE is still building out its east coast hedge, with Sharjah’s port authority planning to double Khorfakkan Port’s handling capacity to 10 mn containers. This adds to the UAE’s growing list of Hormuz workarounds, alongside Adnoc’s West-East Pipeline and DP World’s new Fujairah terminals.

PLUS- We sit down with Mashreq Qatar’s country head, Salman Gulzar, to discuss the bank’s strategy in Qatar — its first outpost outside the UAE. The strategy? To follow Qatari sovereign wealth funds and investors wherever their capital heads, as Qatari entities deploy capital at a scale the domestic market cannot absorb.

On the earnings front, AD Ports posted a jump in 2Q net income despite the war, with higher rates and asset sales cushioning the blow from the Hormuz disruption. Orascom and Amanat Holdings also posted strong results.

Mubadala’s Brazil port sale heats up

Mubadala's Brazil port sale is picking up steam: Sovereign wealth fund Mubadala’s subsidiary Mubadala Capital and trading giant Trafigura Group have received two offers to acquire Porto Sudeste, their iron ore export terminal in Brazil, Bloomberg reports, citing people in the know. The terminal has a 100 mn ton expansion license and is linked to a major iron ore-producing state.

The bids: One offer came from a consortium comprising BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, Brazilian miner Vale, and steelmaker Gerdau, while the second came from infrastructure investor I Squared Capital. The offers value the port at some USD 3 bn and USD 3.5 bn — lower than a previous valuation of USD 5 bn — although it is unclear which bidder tabled the higher amount.

BACKGROUND- Mubadala and Trafigura took control of the terminal back in 2014 through a USD 996 mn transaction, before exploring the sale 10 years later in 2024. The sale was initially going to package Porto Sudeste with their Morro do Ipe iron ore mining operation in Minas Gerais.

IN CONTEXT- Mubadala was reportedly planning to use the sale proceeds to boost investments in Bahia state, where its subsidiary recently secured USD 1.5 bn to build a biofuels refinery in the region. The sovereign wealth fund has been reshuffling its Brazil portfolio for some time now, and closed its third Brazil fund in April, raising USD 900 mn.

Khorfakkan doubles down

Khorfakkan Port is aiming to more than double annual handling capacity to 10 mn containers, up from a smaller target of 5 mn initially, Wam reports, citing the Sharjah Ports, Customs, and Freezones Authority. The east coast port sits on the Gulf of Oman, giving shippers direct access to international routes outside the UAE’s west coast port cluster and, more importantly, outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Why it matters: Sharjah is pairing that sea access with inland reach, logistics hubs, road networks, border crossings, and GCC trade corridors. It already has deep-water berths and cranes able to handle the world’s largest container vessels. The expansion plans come as the UAE is focusing increasingly on its east-based assets to hedge against future disruption in the Strait. Adnoc is accelerating construction of its West-East pipeline and DP World is building two new terminals at Fujairah.

Space42 secures approval for 2.5% share buyback

Spacetech firm Space42 is moving ahead with a 2.5% share buyback of its issued share capital, after securing ADX and shareholder approval for the move, the company said in a disclosure (pdf).

The rationale: According to the firm’s management, “the current share price undervalues the intrinsic value of the company,” Space42’s Managing Director Karim Michel Sabbagh said. The company recorded a strong 1H, with revenue climbing 14.6% y-o-y to USD 259.5 mn; however, net income was down on the back of higher finance costs. Its shares last traded at AED 1.71 on Friday, up 1.8% following news of the buyback, but are up 8.9% YTD.

REMEMBER- Space42 is on a run to expand its national security capabilities via a tie-up with US defense contractor Leonardo DRS. Separately, it inked a USD 7 mn agreement with South Korea’s Autonomous A2Z to deploy Level-4 autonomous driving systems in the UAE.

Data point

AED 5.59 tn — this was the value of the UAE banking sector’s total assets as of the end of June, according to the Central Bank of the UAE’s latest monetary and banking report (pdf). Gross credit rose 0.9% m-o-m to AED 2.8 tn, driven by an AED 19.9 bn jump (3.5%) in foreign credit and an AED 4.8 bn rise (0.2%) in domestic credit.

Individuals kept borrowing: Within domestic credit, lending to individuals rose AED 6.8 bn, contributing 0.3 percentage points to domestic credit growth. Lending to government-related entities rose 1.5%, government credit was up 0.6%, and lending to other financial corporations jumped 11.4%.

Deposits are still growing, but slowly: Bank deposits rose 0.3% m-o-m to AED 3.5 tn, helped by a 1.2% increase in resident deposits to AED 3.2 tn. Private-sector deposits made the biggest contribution to resident deposit growth, rising 0.7% to AED 2.3 tn, while government deposits rose 2.2% to AED 454.6 bn and GRE deposits climbed 4.1% to AED 355 bn.

PSA

Abu Dhabi residents, you now have more time to build or re-do your houses. The Abu Dhabi Housing Authority (ADHA) has extended the activation period for housing construction, demolition, reconstruction, and maintenance loans by two years, giving Emirati beneficiaries more time to plan and execute their housing projects, ADHA said in an announcement.

Why the extension? The move aims to ease pressure around project planning, contractor selection, and construction costs — which are currently seeing a tougher pricing environment due to the war — while giving beneficiaries more flexibility.

IN CONTEXT- The extension builds on the emirate’s push to make housing finance more flexible for UAE nationals. Just last week, the ADHA partnered with First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and Al Maryah Community Bank to offer housing-loan top-ups, giving borrowers additional funding to plan and complete residential projects.

Bridge Summit pushed to late 2027

The second edition of the Bridge Summit has been pushed back by a year, with the event now slated for November or December 2027 rather than this November, according to a press release. No reason was provided for the delay, but it comes after several other events were postponed or canceled earlier this year due to the regional conflict. The conference focuses on the media and entertainment sectors, and includes a trade show.

WEATHER- The mercury rises to 44°C today in Abu Dhabi with lows of 30°C, while Dubai will see highs of 43°C and lows of 32°C, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

The news cycle is led by developments on a few geopolitical fronts. Regional tensions have flared amid Israel’s renewed strikes on Gaza and Lebanon, where 11 people were killed, as the IDF claimed to have killed senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa. Meanwhile, US envoys met with Egyptian, Turkish, and Qatari mediators in Cairo to progress Washington’s peace plan for Gaza.

Trump snubs Seoul to favor Pyongyang? US President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” an upcoming joint military exercise with South Korea on the basis that it would send a “hostile” message to North Korea. Trump also cited Seoul’s lack of help in the “denuclearization” of Iran for pulling away from Washington’s long-time ally.

Over in the business press: Financial infrastructure platform Stripe has signed up to buy OpenRouter — a unified API and marketplace — for over USD 7 bn, indicating a demand for the startup’s services — helping firms switch between AI models. The final value of the acquisition could change, sources told Bloomberg.

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