Egypt emerges as a major fuel supplier to Saudi Arabia

Newsletter

03 Jul 2022

Egypt emerges as a major fuel supplier to Saudi Arabia. The emerging role of some countries as a major supplier of fuel oil to Saudi Arabia is suddenly increasing. After Estonia, Egypt is becoming a major player in this field. This month, the kingdom will receive 3.2 million barrels of fuel from the Ain Sukhna Refinery power plant, the highest monthly rate in at least six years. In turn, it is estimated that Egypt’s imports of Russian fuel will rise to 1.8 million barrels, the highest since at least 2016. The sudden increase in flows into and out of Egypt at the same time bears the signs of some fuel of Russian origin destined for Saudi Arabia. It follows a similar rise in fuel deliveries for the world’s largest exporter of crude oil from Estonia, a country without a refinery. (Bloomberg Asharq)

The board of executive directors of the World Bank Group has approved a 500 million USD loan to support Egypt’s food security plans for poor and vulnerable households.
The Emergency Food Security and Resilience Support Project will help mitigate the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on food security in the North African country. The project links wheat imports to direct assistance of the affected communities in Egypt through the country’s Bread Subsidy Program. It will fund wheat imports covering one month of supply for the Bread Subsidy Program which serves about 70 million low-income Egyptians, of which 31 million are under the national poverty line. (Arab Finance)
Moreover, the World Bank’s project will support Egypt’s endeavors in the reduction of waste and loss in the wheat supply chain through upgrading and expanding climate-resilient wheat silos.
On June 26th, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali El-Moselhi announced that Egypt seeks to import 10 million tons of wheat during the next six months. Moselhi also unveiled that the Egyptian government sealed a deal with India to import 180,000 tons of wheat. (Arab Finance)
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has issued Decree No. 2375 of 2022 setting the tariff of natural gas supply for electricity generation at 3 USD per million British thermal units (BTU), the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on June 28th.
The new tariff is applied to the natural gas supplied to subsidiaries and affiliated companies of the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy and other companies. On June 15th, Madbouly announced that the Egyptian government would postpone any increase in electricity prices for six months. (Arab Finance)
President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa have signed a series of agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in a host of fields, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on June 29th.
The agreements cover economic cooperation and collaboration in the fields of technology and investment. Moreover, legal and judicial cooperation agreements were also signed, in addition to agreements within the fields of export development, fairs organization, environmental protection, education, and air and marine shipping. (Arab Finance)
Moving to our EGX and companies talks, British American Tobacco International decided to stop the work of its unit in Egypt, as part of a review of the long-term commercial feasibility assessment of the country in which it operates.
British American Tobacco has been operating in Egypt since 2000, where it manufactures its products in the government-owned Eastern Tobacco, and its products include Dunhill, Kent, Viceroy, Pal Mall and Royals cigarettes. Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company, paid about 450 million USD to obtain the new license to produce traditional and electronic cigarettes in Egypt. Only "Philip Morris" submitted and won the bid through its unit "United Tobacco Morris", and established "United Tobacco Company", in which "Al-Sharqiya Tobacco" owns a 24% stake in accordance with the terms of the license.
The International Fund Corporation (IFC) will support Elsewedy Electric (SWDY) with a loan worth 150 million USD.
The secured amount in funds will help Elsewedy Electric to expand its footprint in renewable energy across Africa and develop its sustainable manufacturing operations. With First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Europe Arab Bank as participants, the loan will be directed to financing the company’s development or acquisition of solar energy projects. This will help Elsewedy to boost its existing energy efficiencies, as well as globally increase its competitive edge. IFC’s investment will assist Elsewedy Electric to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost more than 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually through solar plants. (Al Mal)
Schneider Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Arab Developers Holding (ARAB) for cooperation in a number of projects in Egypt and overseas.
The MoU targets building smart cities, within the framework of Arab Developers’ commitment to meet the expectations of clients, through digital transformation energy and automation solutions utilized by Schneider Electric. The anticipated smart cities are set to the first of their kind in the local market. t is worth noting that Schneider Electric is leading company in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, with a global presence in more than 100 countries. (Arab Finance)
Al Tamimi & Company has concluded advisory for Tanmeyah for Microfinance Services, a subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding (HRHO), on its acquisition of Fatura Netherlands B.V.
The leading law firm acted as lead legal counsel and advised the buyer on the acquisition transaction. The advisory on legal aspects included conducting due diligence on Tanmeyah, along with negotiating all transaction documents. It is worth noting that Fatura is a fast-growing tech-oriented Business-to-Business (B2B) platform with a regional presence across 22 governorates in Egypt. (Al Mal)
Oil and gas giant bp announced that it was awarded an offshore exploration block in Egypt with 100% working interest in a limited bid round organized by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).
The London-based company said that the awarded King Mariout Offshore area is located around 20 kilometres west of the Raven field in the Mediterranean within the West Nile Delta project. The awarded block covers an area of around 2,600 square kilometres with water depths ranging between 500 and 2,100 meters. bp has been operating in Egypt for 60 years with total investments of approximately 35 billion USD. (Arab Finance)