TODAY: It’s the first issue of Enterprise Logistics + Hassan Allam and Agility team up on new logistics parks in Egypt

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY-New logistics parks in Egypt: Egyptian development firm Hassan Allam Holding subsidiary Hassan Allam Utilities has formed a joint venture — dubbed Yanmu — with Kuwaiti warehousing and industrial developer Agility to set up and operate logistics parks in Egypt.

WATCH THIS SPACE- More low-sulfur marine fuel refineries to come to Fujairah? The UAE’s Fujairah, the world’s third-largest bunkering hub, expects more energy firms to set up refineries to produce low-sulfur marine fuels due to the fact that it’s “cheaper to produce” there,Mousa Murad, managing director of the Port of Fujairah, told The National on the sidelines of the Fujairah Bunkering and Fuel Oil Forum on Tuesday.

Why low-sulfur marine fuel? Ships’ demand for fuel oil with low sulfur content has been on the rise since the International Maritime Organisation bannedships from using fuels with a sulfur content exceeding 0.5% in 2020.

DATA POINT- A record 107 vessels transited the Suez Canal yesterday, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement. Some 92% of the world’s ships pass through the canal, SCA Chairman Ossama Rabie said during a phone-in with Egyptian television program Sabah El Kheir Ya Masr (watch, runtime: 13:55).

Rabie attributes the jump in traffic largely to the deepening and expansion workthat the southern stretch of the Suez Canal underwent, just a few months after the Ever Given got stuck and blocked the waterway for days, which he says helped make way for larger ships to pass through the canal. Some 23.6k vessels transitedthrough the canal in 2022, up 14% from 2021, before the construction work began.

MARKET WATCH-Fitch Ratings has raised its oil price predictions for 2024-2025, on the assumption that it will take longer for prices to stabilize given the OPEC oil cartel’s measured approach to supply increases and Russia’s move to tighten production, according to a statement. Fitch now sees Brent crude settling at USD 75 per barrel (bbl) in 2024, up USD 10 from its previous projection. The ratings agency sees prices cooling to USD 65 / bbl in 2025, up from the USD 53 / bbl it previously penciled in.

SPEAKING OF OIL PRICES- Pricing dynamics have shifted on the back of Western sanctions on Russia: Asian countries have been benefiting off of Western sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil, with prices dropping to new lows as supplies increase to the region, Reuters reports, citing traders, analysts and Refinitiv Eikon data. Western sanctions on Russia have led Russia to sell more than twice as much crude to Asia in the year to January, according to Kpler data picked up by the newswire, while US sanctions on Iran haveboosted exports to Asia to their highest in three years on some estimates. This marks a shift from a decades-long trend, where Asia paid more for energy than Europe.

Freightos becomes the latest to cut its revenue growth forecast: Online freight booking platform Freightos anticipates 2023 revenue growth of 15-21%, down from a prior forecast of 87% growth, due to declining freight rates and decreasing cargo volumes, the company said in its first financial report since going public earlier this year.

REMEMBER- Shipping and freight companies have had a rough start to the year. AP Moller-Maersk has also said earnings could plunge 80% this year, while freight forwarder Flexport has laid off workers because of reduced demand and US truck freight brokers have halted their pandemic-era hiring drive amid weaker domestic shipping volume.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Logistics startup Shipsy will host a roundtable on 15 March at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Jeddah, according to the company’s website. The event will focus on “Powering the Next Wave of Logistics Excellence,” highlighting recent trends and advances in the logistics tech sector. Attendees of the roundtable include: Aramex’s former COO Iyad Kamal and Shehab Mokhtar, cofounder and CEO of Nomu Group.

The SCZone is in Vietnam: Representatives from Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) are in Hanoi where they will meet with local businesses and investors in a bid to attract investment. The roadshow lasts through to Friday, 17 March.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.