Good morning, friends. Mawani and Maersk lead this morning’s edition with the inauguration of the latter’s logistics park in Jeddah — it’s the Danish company’s largest park of its kind in the Middle East. Meanwhile, UAE’s Mubadala is all focused on its hyperscale data center push with fresh investments in Yondr Group, and the Houthis seem to have struck again in the Red Sea.

^^ We have the rundown on all of this and more, below.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Algeria starts Lebanon fuel shipments: Sonatrach has begun sending fuel shipments to Lebanon to help ease the impact of a massive energy shortage, Algeria’s state-owned energy giant said in a statement. The first shipment of 30k tons of fuel was on track to depart last night from Algeria’s Skikda Port. Algeria said it would be sending fuel to Lebanon earlier this week, after Lebanon’s state electricity firm, Electricite du Liban, warned that its fuel supplies were exhausted and announced a nationwide power outage. It’s unclear how cash-strapped Lebanon would pay for the Algerian fuel.

#2- Global ins. broker and risk consultant Marsh has launched a first-of-its-kind USD 50 mn ins. facility against port blockage, covering ports and terminals around the world, according to a statement. The facility was formed after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse at Baltimore Port in March and the subsequent costly disruption of port operations, according to the statement.

What’s on offer? The initiative offers a capacity of USD 50 mn, and higher limits are offered on a case-by-case basis. The facility, which can supplement existing cover or be purchased separately, aims to cover clients for loss of revenues due to third-party accidents. This would include waterway closures due to vessel collisions, natural disasters, or vessels sinking in a channel. The facility is supported by a panel of Lloyd’s London and London market A+ rated insurers.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Baltic index maintains upward trajectory: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 1.4% to 1,759 points on Tuesday, driven by high capesize rates. Capesize inched up 3.6% to 2,788 points, while the panamax index slipped 2.2% to 1,487 points, its seventeenth straight session in decline.

#2- Oil prices stabilized on Wednesday after falling earlier in the week on concerns regarding economic weakness in China and hope that a possible ceasefire in Gaza could ramp down tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude was basically unchanged at USD 76.09 per barrel (up 0.1% overnight), while US West Texas Intermediate was down 0.4% to USD 74.04.

DATA POINTS-

#1- UAE airports handled c. 2.2 mn tonnes of cargo in 1H 2024, with national carriers transporting 68% of total air cargo, Wam reports. This comprised 528.4k tons of imports, 245.2k tons of exports, and 1.4 mn tons of transit cargo. Total air traffic movements rose by 11.8% y-o-y to 499.8k.

#2- Oman saw 27.0% y-o-y growth in the export of vehicle spare parts to RO 9.9 mn during the first five months of 2024, state news agency Ona reported, citing data from the the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The country’s vehicle spare parts imports fell 11.8% y-o-y to RO 44.7 mn during the same period.

HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-

UK-Egypt trade and investment in the spotlight: Our friends at HSBC, together with the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce (EBCC) and UK Export Finance (UKEF), will host a webinar next week to discuss how to support infrastructure reforms, potential partnerships in Egypt, and ways to support and connect companies around the world. The webinar takes place next Thursday (29 August) from 12-1pm CLT / 1-2pm UAE.

Want to attend? You can sign up here.

The webinar is a scene-setter for the Egypt-UK Investment and Opportunities Forum in London on Monday, 16 September.

Infrastructure is a key part of the forum. The gathering — which follows on from a June infrastructure mission — will focus on promoting trade and investment in infrastructure, with an emphasis on green hydrogen and renewables as well as sectors including the auto industry, food processing, and tech.

Networking: The forum will include both open panels and pre-arranged business-to-business networking. It will also give attendees the chance to meet with government officials and industry leaders. GAFI will be on hand to deliver an economic update.

Want to join them in London? Register your interest in attending the event here.

***YOU’RE READING EnterpriseAM Logistics, the essential MENA publication for senior execs who care about the industry that connects producers and retailers to global markets. We’re out Monday through Thursday by 9:15am in Cairo and Riyadh and 11:15am in the UAE.

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DID YOU KNOW that we also cover Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the MENA climate industry ?
***

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Warehousing and Logistics Expo on Monday, 2 September to Wednesday, 4 September in Riyadh. The event will bring together leaders in the supply chain, warehousing, and logistics industry from across the Kingdom to discuss investments, trade, geopolitical risks, and localized manufacturing.

Egypt will host the Egypt International Airshow on Tuesday, 3 September to Thursday, 5 September in El Alamein. The event will host a range of discussions touching on industrialization, digitalization, and globalization in the regional commercial aviation sector. During the event, aircrafts and innovative aerospace products, and services will be showcased.

Saudi Arabia will host SkyMove MENA on Tuesday, 10 September and Wednesday, 11 September in Riyadh. The event will gather global industry stakeholders, experts, and service providers to discuss challenges in the regional aviation industry.

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Maritime and Logistics Congress on Wednesday, 18 September and Thursday, 19 September in Dammam. The event will gather international industry leaders in the maritime sector to discuss a range of topics including interconnected logistics, supply chains, digitalization, decarbonization and workforce development.

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

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